I'd like to know what all you used and did to get them looking like that. Mine look like s@&t and I'm getting my truck painted next month. Polishing the wheels might be a good project for next winter.
The basic concept for polishing anything is the same. Remove the oxidation, level the peaks off and the shine will come through. Just have to use different degrees of abrasion. Different tools work better than others.
For the bulk of the work I use 10" wheels of various styles. Different materials have different characteristics. A Sisal wheel cuts hard, whereas cotton can be softer. The treatment matters though too, a dipped cotton wheel can be as agressive as some sisal wheels. The style of the wheel also matters. The amount of stiching and how close the stitches are determines the stiffness of the wheel. Stiffer wheel generally allows a heavier cut than a softer wheel of the same material. I generally just stick with ventilated buffs because they keep the aluminum cool. These are often called "Airways". Then you just need to understand each companies treatment guide and which wheels do what and you can at least get a benchmark of what wheel to use where.
Compounds are the same, every company is different so its best to just learn what they have. All will have some very agressive ones all the way through to jewelers rouge. Some compounds will be greasier than others for different materials, along with other characteristics that may change so make sure when buying bars you choose ones geared towards what you are polishing.
Only use one compound per buff, buy a new buff for each compound. Generally as you progress through the stages you will always be changing to a less agressive buff and less agressive compound anyways so this is no big deal. For example you are not going to get any cutting done with a Domet flannel wheel using an emery compound but at the same time a clear dipped wheel is not going to shine anything with jewlers rouge.
Apply compound little, often. A couple seconds to melt a bit on the wheel is enough. If you see residue on the piece you are using too much. If its hazy you may need a bit more. Rake the wheel often also, you'll get a feel for when it needs to be done.
If sanding by hand you can usually get out 400 grit with an agressive compound and wheel.
Anything more agressive than that really requires sanding or greasless. I use greaseless where a DA palm sander isn't practical like on the PYO's. You apply the compound to the wheel, let it dry, then go to work. Basically a flexible sanding wheel then.
For all of the stuff the big wheel doesn't reach I use little air die grinders with various roloc's, cartridge rolls and other abrasives.
Takes a lot of time, just play around.
Just a few of the wheels/compounds I have.
Greaseless
Its pretty crappy work but rewarding to some people.
For non coated stuff get some acid wash from a truck place. Helps clean everything up and give you a fresh start as much as possible.
Same rim after Acid
It may look even in the picture above, but that rim was an inside dual that had a machine finish and serious pitting/road damage. Took a lot of sanding to get it half way decent. You can see the amount of material laying on the flange in this picture and thats just from trying to get the face looking decent. I sanded all the way down to 36 grit on this one.
After sanding to 400 grit.
After polishing.
