Starting slow restoration-best equipment needed?

I haven't had any trouble. I try to pick an area that has been well rain rinsed and then only pick up the perfectly dry top layer. I have a car that was done in 1975 (same sand source) that hasn't had a spot of rust show. The paint is still mint and hasn't ever been touched up. I've actually got some parts floating around in the shed that I done December last year, that I never got around to priming and they are now just starting to show signs of surface rust. I've seen commercial blasterswork that is rusting badly a day out from blasting.
I would disagree with the comment in general (some very few exceptions out there)and would say instead, if you love your car stay away from commercial sand blasters.

Here's another one that will give you the shudders like a 351. I quite often use salt water in a metal bath and run a electrical current through a suspended part to clean the rust off it.
I take the part out of the salt water, hose the solution off exposing the nice shiny metal surface, dry and paint. Again I've been doing this for years and have never had a job that I've had to redo even though some jobs are exposed in some bad environments.

^^ that virtually what commercial dip strippers do, but they probably wont admit it if they use salt .