I'd use a cup brush on an electric drill to remove what you like
then use some wet or dry paper, you can use it wet about 60 grit is ok that will get the corners where the cup brush won't reach you could also try coarse steel wool and water or solvent ( wear a good glove) and just get it all as clean as you can. if the paint is stuck its fine leave it.
then I would treat this with "rust mort" or a similar rust inhibitor this will turn the rust black and allow it to accept the paint better, it won't remove the rust left but it will oxidize it and stabilize it.
then clean with water, before paint you might clean with alcohol or acetone to get rid of any greasy remnants. you could use fine wet or dry paper where the paint is ok just to get a good hold on the new paint. dip your paper in a saucer of water to keep the paper clean , it will cut better and the paper lasts way longer too.
let the paint harden up. if it's warm it dries faster. it'll be tougher after about 3 days or so.
Yes spray it with rustoleum or a similar rust primer I agree you don't really need the primer.
If you want to fill pitting I'd think about using autobody "glazing putty" rather than bondo. It sands easier and you don't need it thick anywhere. usually usually one would use bondo for autobody to fill dents and then use glazing putty to feather out and fix the bondo imperfections. it will come in a tube like toothpaste and you don't need to muck about adding hardners. use a plastic bondo spreader and a little acetone to clean your tools. bondo will work it's just hard to sand and feather out. there are also primers intended to be sandable that you could use. dont put it thick , in rounded corners like the bottom of the drawers you could just sort of smear it into the rust pits using a glove and your finger. dont ;put globs or youll be trying to sand them down. it's just the surface you might want to smooth out a little you aren't filling big dents so don't put it thick or you'll just make work for yourself.
naval jelly will work but I think if you just use the rust mort instead it will work ok and be faster.. if there are traces of rust it won't come back too easily because it shouldn't be wet in there normally. but if you have the Naval jelly already sure use it up it will be ok.
naval jelly dissolves the rust but might take a few applications to rid it of all the rust.
you can't do sandblasting in the house it would go everywhere.. , that would work fine outside but I think it is more extreme and I know you don't want the outlay for those tools right now for this.
you could opt to skip the naval gelly or rust mort and just give it a real good scrubbing using wet wet-or-dry sandpaper and steel wool. then get it super clean and dry before paint.
yea thin coats, allow dry time, not rocket science , if you put too much paint on it'll run.. just enough so you see it "flow out" then stop.
if you do more coats make sure it's dry or the paint might wrinkle up if you put more on before it's really dry. just leave it overnight between coats. Good practice to scuff sand with about 220 wet or dry paper between coats to knock off any pips caused by dust.
about Bakelite. when it is cast they used heat and pressure and pressed it into polished molds. the surface is originally mirror smooth as were the dies it was made with.
under that outside layer it is a sort of porus material. You could use the plastics polish. "Novus" is a good one and comes in different grits.
if you scrub or sand you can go through the outer layer of the Bakelite it can look flat instead of shiny. You can use your blopentine just like you would with wood to fill the microscopic voids and try to get the polished looking surface back. or car wax
you can also paint Bakelite with auto paint if you'd rather they were a different color.
If you ever wonder if something is Bakelite or plastic if you stick it with a hot pin somewhere inconspicuous. the plastic will melt, Bakelite won't
some pin striping might be fun, you can get artistic with it,, make it match your color scheme. That thing is going to look brilliant!
here's a sample of the glazing putty. you won't need much , this one is made by "bondo" which is actually a company not really the auto filler product but I would buy whatever brand you come across.
note that you can use it between coats too so I'd just do a quick job filling the rust voids, then paint first coat, and if there are more pits that bug you then do a bit more and then another coat. the paint itself would fill the pits if you do enough coats sanding between but the glazing putty will speed up the process, two coats is probably enough. I'd guess you need 2 spray bombs to do that thing inside and out.
http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/a ... 079&rt=rud
Victor adding machine 003 by James McInnis, on Flickr
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(I'm excited at the notion, really. There's so many uses for something like that!)
