Another polishing question
 

Now that I'm a madman with my new buffing machine, are there any secrets for preserving the screened/painted labeling on some components? I polished up my Bridgestone brake calipers and the Bridgestone label came right off. It actually came off just rubbing with Simichrome before I hit it with the buffer. My Cyclone derailleur label seems a tad more durable but I'm skipping round the label by hand which leaves that area a little less lustrous than the rest of the piece. I see a lot of high-polish parts on The Bay with no labels which leads me to believe its a hazard of the craft. Anyone got this figured out?

That's why I loved polishing my Shimano 600 cranks--the Shimano logo is deeply embossed not printed, so you can polish away like a madman. I think modern manufacturers are cheaping out; you rarely see embossing on aluminum parts today.

A power buffer has the potential to remove significant amount of metal, depending on hardness of the buffing cloth wheel, "sharpness" of the abrasive compound, and speed of the wheel. Sometimes you just have to avoid buffing over the fine details. You can also try using a Dremel tool with one of their small cloth buffing wheels to get into the small areas. Although even that will wipe off most screen-painted labeling in nothing flat.

Tape over them with heavy masking tape.