I'm used to Naval Jelly and wire brushes / drill attachments for small rust
issues, but how does one deal with bigger areas?

I've never owned a bench grinder, and recently got an older used unit complete
with pedestal stand. The motor runs smoothly and I'm pleased at having spent
a whopping forty bucks for a tool that will be of some use to me.

But the pedestal base is quite rusty, with the underside of the base
especially bad. I'd say this would be described as severely rusty.

Are there any established techniques for dealing with something that is
realistically too big to handle with normal techniques? I know I could say
that it's in a dry environment now and probably will outlast me with doing
nothing, but I'd still like to get it reasonably cleaned up.

Art