Polishing a LU

[Burke Kilgour]

I just paint stripped my CLE LU and have never polished anything "from scratch" before.
I ran it through my glass bead cabinet to take off all the alodine and assorted paint chips that were left over from the stripping.
The glass bead is BT10, so it's a satin type finish I ended up with. I'd like get the LU nice and shiney now. What's the step by step process from here?
I've polished aircraft, but this is a bit different................
Here's what I'm starting with.

[jphii]

Fish did it but I can't find the thread. I was amazed at the way his came out. He hasd one side taped up so you could really see the difference. He used Flitz (?) metal polish. I went out and bought some after seeing the pics. Just follow the directions.

[amityray]

see post 11
it looks great
http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127255&page=2&highlight=aquabuff

[Burke Kilgour]

Thanks guys, but what Fish did was polish a fairly smooth lower. I have a rougher finish so I'm thinking I have to sand it or something to get it to the point where I can actually polish it. Maybe I can just polish it from this point, I don't know. The finish on the LU now would be like, say 400 grit sandpaper.
Thanks for the replies :D

[merc200]

Just stripped and polished mine, You need to sand it with 220 than use 320 and finish with 400, I used a 8inch buffing wheel with tripoli compound, than wiped the compound off, use some Mothers or comparable polish for final shine.

[Burke Kilgour]

OK, thanks. That's what I was looking for :D
Did the different colored nose and weld on the front of the CLE go away when it was polished?

[merc200]

Mine had a cone and l/w p/up from the factory, some grades of aluminum will polish different colors.

[RJSHADOW8021]

this is a post that is already going on polishing a lower:cool:

http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128045

[boilerdawg]

i polished my cle. it was painted when i started and like you i had to bead blast it to get off all the paint. i then wet sanded with 320, then to 400, 600, 1000, 2000 and then i used the 3M rubbin compound. best advice i can give you is that when you start out with the 320 dont stop till you get it all even. if it aint all even you wont get it all shiney. also do not use a wire wheel brush to get to those hard to reach areas. the brush kinda burnishes the area and it wont shine like it oughta. thats what i learned from doin mine, hope it helps.

[Burke Kilgour]

How'd the nose turn out where Merc welded the small cone on?
Mine had a drastically different color till I glass beaded it.
I have a fabric polishing wheel that I'm thinking of putting on one of my angle grinders.
Thanks :D