Hello Metal Guys,
I'm running a garage business selling like like a dozen parts a month
of a very specialized clamp for a musical instrument application. The
parts are on the order of 1.25" long, have no detail, but have both
rounded surfaces and flat areas. I get the raw parts from a cnc guy,
and then have a lot of shaping and finishing I do myself. Although
mechanical in nature, they need to look nice, so the dominant expense
is this finishing labor. I shape with a small belt sander and a 6"
abrasive rubber wheel. I use tripoli on a 6" hard felt wheel, and then
rouge with a 6" cloth wheel. Everything goes along, but I'm wondering
if I can't cut my shop time on two issues:

1. The 6" hard felt wheel clogs up quickly. I scrape it with a burred
chisel, but I need to keep putting a fresh burr on the chisel. I have
some brown tripoli, red tripoli, and lately I've been trying the white
diamond dust compound. That seems to clog the least, but it leaves
more work for the rouge wheel. I also have some kind of black cutting
compound which I haven't used in awhile, but I don't remember being
impressed. Is there some cut/color buffing bar I haven't tried that I
should?

2. After polishing, I spend a whole lot of time cleaning the parts by
hand. A lot of compound builds up in the threaded holes. I've decided
to invest in an ultrasonic cleaner. I have used them in the past and
wasn't terribly impressed. Perhaps I was using the wrong cleaning
medium What kind of liquid works best in the bath for removing tripoli
and rouge?

Thanks for any help!