Grumpy Ole Artist wrote: Trying to get them shiny...seems like the more I work, the uglier they get....
I don't know what power tool / buffing material you are using but I would take a step back. You can use a soft cloth buffing wheel you can purchase from ACE or HF for the drill. A dedicated bench buffer is better yet. No sparks involved. But before that follow the steps below:
If you want the chrome look to the aluminum, you can accomplish it by wet sanding in ever finer grit and then finishing on a buffing wheel with soft metal buffing compound. First you need to remove any clear lacquer that the parts may be coated with, if any. You can use aircraft stripper or your method of choice. Which grit you start at depends on the condition of the part. If there are minor gauges, you can first lightly file them out first with a fine metal file. But a normal condition part you can start with 400 or 600 grit wet sanding. Then go up as follows, 1000, 1500, 2000 grit. Then I use the soft metal compound on the buffing wheel. At that point it looks like chrome. But I give it a rub down with Mothers Aluminum and Metal polish and and another turn on the buffing wheel. You will find that maintaining that shine is easy. Just hit it with mothers and a terry cloth every two or three months. It has special waxes to help maintain the shine and prevent oxidation. Don't use silicon type waxes. They will dull the shine. I have bikes that I have done the fork lowers and engine cases and still look good after a 3 years.
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