Norman Bel Geddes restoration advice

I picked up a really roached out NBG desk. It was covered in faux wood contact paper, which I have removed. I plan to remove the remaining adhesive. I typically work with wood, so metal restoration is a new arena for me.

My questions are:

how can I remove the rust without damaging the paint?

though the paint is enamel, should I have concerns about any toxins with the yellow color?

If I cannot salvage the paint, what type of paint/process should I use to repaint?

 

Is this one like yours? It's been restored and the Details will tell you what was done.

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/s...-bel-geddes/id-f_24594622/#skuId=f_24594622S1

Debora

 

Not resored but refurbished to bare metal and clear-coated. That is a look that is desireable but in no way original to the piece. I think the OP wants to restore to original look if possible.

I doubt if the rust can be removed without damaging the paint. Naval jelly is a great rust remover but I would think it will also dissolve the paint. I am not sure so you might want to research this. Otherwise, you can stabilize the rust with a product made for such. Also called a rust converter.

I don't know what you would do once the rust is removed or converted. Spot painting the areas would surely look bad, as I doubt you could match the paint. You could just live with the missing paint and clear-coat the whole thing to preserve moving forward. Otherwise, repainting would be the way to go. I would recommend it be sprayed. Cans of spray paint often do not give a uniform look. You might need to purchase a comercial sprayer or have it done comercially.

 

You can't remove the rust without damaging the paint on that area, but you can control the damage using masking tape and a steady hand with the sandpaper. I don't see great damage, from the pics, so if it's touch ups only you should be fine. If the paint is bubbling from rust beneath that paint, there might be no way around striping and painting the whole thing. I don't see immense value as is here anyway (sorry). To preserve some of the originality, you might want to have a can of paint prepared to match the original color (if you can determine that that is actually the original color), or, maybe just go to a "spirit of the age" color that you like. Don't worry about the toxicity of the paint unless you do a hundred thousand of these, and inhale all of the dust. Your trusty covid mask should keep you safe. Hope this helps.