What type of Polish is the best to use

I think most people use AO, I use AO or Tin Oxide. But in my opinion, a high gloss shine starts at the 1st stage and on through, if you don't get the stones prepared right, smooth and void of vugs you may not get a good shine no matter what you use. Plus some stones polish better in one polish than another, for example I have heard cerium oxide works best on Obsidian. Just my two cents.
Terry

I get good results in a vibe with AO, butit is good quality AO form RockSHed, and I do fewer softer stones like jade or dolomite ... etc

I have come to believe that polish can make a difference in difficult cases. I alsobelieve it is much more critical when polishing on a buff wheel or faceting. Less so in a tumbler.

In te tumbler, good grinding, not rushingthe sanding stages, using pre-polish if stones are softer, and having proper load characteristics is often much more important that the type of polish. This means get the fill, water, size range, cushioning ... etc all correct for your model and rock type.

Posted here previously, a pretty good list of what's good for what stones:

www.utahrockhounds.com/tooelegem/tips/stonepolish.html

Tin Oxide is probably the best all-around, as you can see on the list it's shown for many different types. Don't think I've ever heard anyone say they were using Titanium Dioxide as a tumbler polish, unless that's what Lusterite is (I have never been able to find a definitive answer on what Lusterite polish actually is - I found one site that said it was aluminium oxide, and another that says it is "a pyrochemical compound pulverized to about 50,000 mesh" and that it isn't an oxide...so who knows).

Here are a couple of pics of what you can do with Tin Oxide on things like agates - the first photo is out of focus because I could not get the camera to focus on the rock itself, it would only focus on the reflection. But despite being a failure as a photo, it's still a pretty good indicator of what kind of shine you can get with Tin Oxide. And as everyone else said, good prep is the key, leaving things long enough in the prior stages makes a difference even over what type of polish you choose.

Is that list for tumbling, or cabbing? It says the compiler was a great cutter...

Anyway... I agree with the others that a *great* AO does a great job 95% of the time. And that it can only do its job when the first couple of stages are done "properly" (ie. not rushed). Its also the most economical, as you can buy 2 lbs of AO or 1/2 lb Tin oxide for the same amount (from the Rockshed).

I do have some tin oxide, but I've only tried it on rocks that I later deemed too soft to polish nicely in a tumbler.

At $18 a lb they are giving it away compared to everyone out West. I've seen Titanium Dioxide at the Alpha Supply tent in Tucson. I found some in my dad's stuff and tried it with some Montana agates. It worked very well but all those polishes you mentioned also shine up agates pretty well.