Need mirror finish on 2025-t3 aluminum

[playwphyre]

I am trying to polish a flat piece of 2024-t3 aluminum to a mirror finish (i need to look at it under a microscope and can't see scratches) but have very fine scratchs. I have tried many things, including sisal with black, then sewn with brown, loose with liquid white, and canton flannel with red. I have used a drill press with 4" wheels as well as a 3/4 hp motor with 4" wheels, not sure about the rpms but the motor is much slower than the drllpress.

I have tried many different combinations of the above and clean the part in simple green or another degresser before the next step. Now even when i use the red, which is supposed to be jewlers rouge and have NO cutting action, it still will cause small scratches in the surface. I have tested this by polishing in different directions and the scratches always line in the direction of the spinning wheel.

Just to prove to myself it wasn't due to the wheels itself or contamination from the previous step, i tried polishing with no rouge added at all, and no additional scratching occurred.

If anyone knows any way to polish without scratching please let me know.