I thought that I was the only one who had difficulty with bedstead restoration. I acquired a couple of turn of the century jobs a few years ago and took the first to a classic car restorer who had a huge dip tank. The result was really clean. I had the second one sand blasted because I no longer had the tank available and they were for my personal use rather that for a museum. As you would expect, the blasting caused some minor pitting on the castings but not the tubes. Both were primed and spray painted with automobile lacquer. This finish has proven to be quite tough and in 7 or 8 years has shown no wear other than a couple of chips from vacuuming & etc. Chuck Watkins, App. Cultural Museum