What kind of parts are you wanting to polish?
There's really 2 good ways to do it1 is to get a good brand of metal polish (like Mothers) a pile of rags, and a whole lot o' elbow grease and work at ti (good for trim that's not in bad shape) 2 would be to buy/build a buffer and get the appropriate compounds(s). I have done both. I built my own buffer using an electric motor and an adapter arbor to mount buffer wheels on. You should be able to get the arbor, wheels, and compounds from any hardware store, farm store, Sears, and at swap meets. For the motor, again, hardware or farm stores, but they're kind of pricey. I scavanged mine off an old well pump, one from an old belt drive furnace blower would work too. Just wire it with a switch and a plug and you're set. Polishing isn't too hard, just takes some patience and a good grip on the part. Using a buffer is great for doing bolts and small parts, trip peices can be trickey, especially if the material is relatively thin/flexible. Easy to mess up a paice if you're not carefull. But it sure does a nice job. ou can make unpolished stainless shine like new chrome once you get the hang of it. Gloves are sugested (preferrably leather), as the parts will get hot, and the abrasives in the compounds can be rough on the hands.
If you'd like, I can put some pix up of my homemade buffing machine.
