/diy/ - Do It Yourself

These railings have so much built up paint and rust, I tried using a wire brush and chemical stripepr on one side, but its taking too long with too little results. I'm considering removing the rails and sending them out to get blasted and powdercoated. Do sandblasting companies also saw off the railing too, or will I have to find a different company to remove the railings? Am I going to have to pay a ton for both rails to be done (i'm in chicago, but close to the border of the city if that matters)

These handrails are rusting pretty bad. My plan is to use wire brush on a drill to get the bulk of it off followed by spot sanding and mineral spirits to clean. I already tested a small section and it seems the paint comes off easily, but there are about 10 layers of it dating back to the 50's so probably lead in there.
My questions are: Do I need to get every last bit of rust out of the pitting? And should I get spray paint to do the final coating or stick with a brush?
The final colors will look similar to how it is now, white for the bulk, and a pastel for the curly accents