I've a friend who cleans the mechanisms using walnut shell blasting. It just removes the soft debris, no metal. I also have a local chrome plater who replates my stuff cheaply.
For the wood I use a very soft plastic wool that's gentler than steel wool to strip the old varnish. Then I put a light coat of tung oil on them and buff like hell, followed by at least one more coat. Tung oil is a hardening finish and is great on wood that's meant to be handled and worked with.
edited: If there are labels you'd like to save and reuse, a heat gun or hair dryer will usually loosen the glue enough that a thin blade will remove them unwrinkled.