What I do with most of my scales are pretty much the same . I do most of my work with my 2 X 72 belt and start out with rough and work it up to 220. I then have my scales pretty nicely shaped and pretty smooth . From the 220 , I do the rest by hand and work the scales up 800grit . (some guys stop at 400 , but the higher grit you go , the better finish you'll get ) Once your happy with the finish you get by hand , I then use my buffing wheel ( soft , dont remember the actual name for the wheel Im using , but it is a soft / loose wheel ) And lightly buff it .. You will see a world of differance when you hit it with the buffing wheel ..I use a pink compond for my steel for higher glossy finishes and I use the same stuff on the wood. Remember not to push on it to hard , you may pull some of the wood away , espicially if it hasnt been stabilized..
Again , this works for me and it may not work for others . Ive had pretty good luck with it though. Good luck .