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I know the basics, such as;
start with coarse 150ish
work your way to 1500-2000 grain
and T CUT
Any trade tips?
Thinking about rawing some bike parts (sorry meant to put this on chat forum)
You'll need to use a polishing compound or soap bar as there known.
Bench grinder with coarse buffing wheel and general compound then fine wheel mop with a finer grade compound.
You will never get a mirror finish with the method you have described however it'll be ok for removing the paint & flatting down.
There's some good starter kits for various metals on www.thepolishingshop.co.uk
You could always go ghetto and use an electric drill with an arbour for the mop.
make sure you wear a face mask & goggles!!!!
Good luck
Stu
http://www.framebuilderscollective.org/polishing-stainless-mcculloch/
Polished stainless steel will stay shiny, but polished steel.....?
Just polishing an Ally frame at the moment - above all else - patience, lots of patience. It's really satisfying when you have worked through the compounds and finally get something really gleaming (tested the process on an old Ally bar and it came up a treat). The frame is another game - lots of fiddly bits to reach. Never tried steel -good luck and post some pics.
Polished steel will have to be lacquered. Period.
If I was going to do it, I'd do the aforementioned then put 3-4 laquer coats down before cutting back with G4 cutting compound.
Polished up my old steel lockring. Used to look like this...[img] 
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[img] 
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Looks nice 'n' cool on my hope hub, no alloy for me. 🙂
Did it with 1200p grain wet and dry, a buffer and some T-CUT