Polishing Compound Question

I personally wouldn't use the Dremel because the RPM, combined with the wheel size, creates too fast of a surface speed. To answer your question, the 2 main buffing compounds are Tripoli and White Diamond.

No prob. I currently run a corded drill with a home-brewed 6-8" wheel setup but if you want something better, you could go with an 8" Beall buffing system and a 1725RPM buffing motor. Alternately, if you're a bit nutty, you could go with a full bench grinder with 4" wheels but that's not recommended either. Hopefully somebody like Al will chime in with more/better info.
Best of luck with your system. I love mine.
EDIT: I keep my drill stable in a small bench vise and control the briar instead of putting the pipe in a vise and controlling the drill.

I have a variable speed dremel, but at is slowest its 5000 rpm, you would burn the wood easily I would think.
I will probably get a grinder for polishing and work on pipes in the future, but it will be a 1700 rpm one

carnuba wax is used as the final step in polishing your pipes and stems. i currently use a ryobi grinder that i converted to a buffer. it is 3600 rpm. i like using white diamond 1st, then apply carnuba 2nd. be careful with the hi rpms on your drummel tool. good luck.
mike.

What about using Liquid Gold to clean before applying the Carnuba?

Cheaper than a buffer and better than a grinder is an old washing machine motor. Mount it on a plywood base add a shaft extension and some pillow blocks if you want more than one buffer going at the same time so you don't have to switch it out. If you can get the motor for under $20.00 at a used appliance store the whole thing can be purchased for the price of a good grinder and is significantly better.

Paragon Wax for smooth finish pipes and HalyconII Wax for rusticated or rough surface pipe, all done by hand.

I am a jeweler and have a giant polishing machine/vacuum setup that's great for handling precious metals which rely on heat to literally 'move' the metal. That means that together with the compounds, the speed of the wheel and the technique make jewelry shine.
With pipes I found out that different techniques must apply. My machine runs at 3450 rpm and i typically use 5 to 6 inch wheels-extremely high speed and lots of heat.
My first attempts were to handle it like jewelery--a no no. I burnt the stems and did nothing good to the bowls.
I had to alter my techniques to first, apply the polish to the wheel (sparingly while its running) and just lightly move the pipe to the wheel. Much better results. Not to make this a whole lesson, the polish and pipe are applied at the lower third of the wheel while its rotating, NOT THE UPPER TWO THIRDS. DANGER! The pipe can easily be ripped from your hands, and one should always wear eye protection!
For those without these machines, the above suggestions of low speed motors and 4 or 5 inch wheels with gentle pressure should give good results. Polishes can include: Tripoli for deeper but fine scratches (meaning no gouges, in which sandpaper of different grits would be used first); If there aren't any deep scratches, i would go straight to white diamond followed by carnauba wax, hopefully each on separate wheels, cleaning the pipe inbetween each step as to not transfer one media to the other one.
Allan

Al
You are so right. Metal polishing techniques are pretty much the same whatever metals you are working on
Allan

paragon wax with my fingers. I let it dry and then buff it with a soft cloth. Obsidian oil for the stem. I use my fingers to apply, let it set for 30 minutes and wipe clean.
I do this once a month. No power tools.