As Tom said I have restored a few pairs of forks, I have them vapour blasted first and then use a scotchbrite flapper wheel.

If you look at a pair of original fork bottoms they have a grained finish although this doesnt run all the way to the brake lugs and other protrusions that are hard to polish, I masked out the appropiate areas and grained the forks with a scotch brite flapper wheel in a drill then laquered the fork leg.

The last pair I had clear powder coated which should be a bit more durable than laquer.