Hi Jim,
It depends on how much “cleaning” they need. If it’s just a little
surface rust, there’s this absolutely great buffing compound called
"stainless compound". It’ll take a 220 grit finish down to a mirror
in about 30 seconds flat. On steel or cast iron. Regrettably, it
doesn’t do squat to non ferris metals or precious metals, but it’ll
polish your stakes like nobody’s business. Allcraft has it.
If they need more than that, get some sanding disks for a right-angle
grinder, use those to get the surface back to where you want it, and
then stainless from there. When I was doing a lot of stake polishing,
I had access to a very large (14" dia) floor-standing buffer for the
stainless buffs, but I’ve done it successfully with 6" treated muslin
wheels on a normal jewelry buffer, or even by mounting the buffs on
my angle grinder. (not fun, and not recommended if you’re not already
very good with an angle grinder.)
Regards,
Brian.