I used wire brushes in an electric drill for doing things like that. Wore the brushes out but they are cheap enough.

Duh! Never thought of that, and that's what I used to tidy up my rear calipers.

Wire brushes leave a much nicer surface finish than sand blasting on something like that too. I did a fireplace years ago and it was so nice I left it bare. It never went rusty either, even though there was no fire in it any more.

The trick is keepit dry.
I've cleaned up a couple of machines that way to museum exhibition standard and thirty years later they are still shining, just need an occasional dry dusting.
As for sand blasting normal sand never works, you always have to use the really fine sharp grit. And I don't mean what the builders call "sharp" sand.

Don't be fooled by the term sand blasting. The proper term should be media blasting. From ground nut shells to Iron Oxide, there is a media out there that will not damage whatever your cleaning.

Yup, but not likely with a Lidl “blaster” :ROFL:

Worth noting that the Lidl compressors come with a metric fitting, not your regular UK imperial. Not a massive issue if you only use the supplied attachments, or are happy to swap the quick release at the compressor end and ditch the Lidl attachments, but a pain in the arse if you've got tools already.

Warrington Lidl has a few in. Getting one for my stepfather.

Saw them in Fort William at the weekend and they were only £11.99