I have been spending many hours polishing lately. One thing I have learned is first do no harm. It's better to take longer with a finer abrasive than to use a heavier one and then try to get the scratches out. On more fragile pieces I like to use die grinders with embedded abrasive nylon 2" rol-lok wheels, much more forgiving. There are lots of polishing wheels for die grinders of various sizes and shapes. Also a 2" orbital die grinder is handy and hook and loop disk can be gotten up to 10,000 grit. none of this is very expensive. I use Eastwood emery compound and then their stainless compound to finish. Hope this helps.
