[Arran]

Hi Arran,
I like National gear it's well designed and sturdy. Have a bunch of from the SW-3, SRR, NC-100X, NC-100ADS, NC-200. to the NC-173 And the HRO. Electrolysis probably work well but I'm llazy just used drill/wire wheel. Not too concerned about the minor pitting as the wrinkle paint will cover it nicely.
I have a good friend that has a few Breting rxs. I don't remember the model #. Nice looking sets.
Got to hit the rack.
Terry

Terry;
  That's what made me adopt the electrolysis method, it's less messy and less work then most of the others for stripping rust and paint. I used to use a wire wheel too, and whilst it works on the flaky surface rust it barely touches the hard crusty scabs you run into sometimes. I've also used a bath of vinnegar and water to get rust off of things, I cleaned up some battery terminals in an old 1960s era Sony radio that way, as well as bicycle parts, but it can't be relied on to strip paint unfortunately.
  With electrolysis it does take some time, so if you are in a hurry it's not really the best choice for paint and rust removal. But one thing it has going for it is that it's cheap, you just need some baking or washing soda, some scrap steel, a plastic container, water, and a DC power supply. The first time I tried this method was with a pipe vise that had been left in the back yard, this vise uses a length of large chain to grab onto the pipe, well every link was seized right up. I tried soaking the vise in vinegar and water, it stripped some rust but the chain remained locked up, so then in despiration I tried the electrolysis method, it took a while to figure out the size needed for a sacrificial anode but it did the job.
Regards
Arran