Polishing bare metal to a mirror shine on a rotary powered tool:
1) Rough polish first with a very fine abrasive rubber wheel.
2) Final polish with tripoli buffing compound on a chamois wheel.
Polishing acrylic on a rotary powered tool:
1) Rough polish with coarse pumice on a wet cloth wheel.
2) Refinement polish with fine pumice on a wet cloth wheel.
3) Final polish with Acryluster buffing compound on a dry cloth wheel.
When polishing acrylic, one has to use a low-speed setting on the rotary powered tool to prevent melting the acrylic!
HTH.