[BlueFin]

My 2 cents is that it would be very workable and would probably be a whole lot faster than doing any of it by hand. As far as increased wear and tear or damage to the machine? As long as you know what to expect then that decision is entirely up to you. I used to ride motocross bikes on the sand dunes because of the pure enjoyment of it, and a lot of friends did as well. But there is always those few guys who refused to even think about it. They insisted that the sand was "hard on the bearings and stuff". I did not care, I specificly bought the bike for the dunes from the beginning and rode it there because I valued the experience higher than any other enviroment. The resulting increased wear and tear was not an issue, it was just the cost of living the one and only life I have been given to the fullest.

If you truly hold value to polishing metal in an automated fashion then by all means go for it, it won't matter how much you trashed a machine 35 years from now (at least thats what I think I have left in me) when your laying on your death bed with proud memories of shiny metal in your past. But if you don't do it you may regret it.