This End Up, Classic Queen Platform Bed - Update and Improvements

We emptied out our storage unit of everything coming to Boston. One of the items we brought, that we have not had with us for two years, is our This End Up Classic Queen Platform Bed (my posts about the bed). When we went to reassemble the bed we found that the brackets for holding up the sides were rusted. We took a trip to Home Depot and looked for brass brackets as replacements but could not find what we wanted. Instead we wound up with brushes to remove the rust and paint to cover the brackets.
For brushes we used HDX Assorted Mini Brushes (3-Pack) and for paint we used Rust-Oleum Professional High Performance Enamel Gloss Black Spray Paint. I also used Permatex Fast Orange Fine Pumice Lotion Hand Cleaner as a lubricant with the brush and to help clean off the rust.
Here are some of the rusted brackets next to some of the cleaned brackets.

 

This End Up, Classic Queen Platform Bed, Finishing (Part III)

After letting the second coat of MinWax Antique Oil Finish dry for around fifteen hours it looked like this:

This End Up, Classic Queen Platform Bed, Finishing (Part II)

For a finish we decided to use MinWax Antique Oil Finish.
For the first coat we applied the finish liberally using Flat Foam Brushes. We immediately sanded using 3M 400-Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper in order to work the finish into a slurry and into the wood.
After about five minutes we did a "wet buff" using finish soaked HDX Staining Pads. This made the coat even thicker.
After another ten to fifteen minutes we dry buffed with Cheese Cloth (again, can't have enough of this).
Keep in mind when buffing that if the surface is tacky you need to add a little bit more finish to buff, you do not want to be sticking to the wood.

First coat applied and more or less wiped with cheese cloth:

This End Up, Classic Queen Platform Bed, Finishing (Part I)

This projects starts with a This End Up Classic Queen Platform Bed that was ordered unfinished, it's made primarily of pine.

This is the bed setup with a rather thin memory foam mattress: