I have metal industrial work bench top face plate that needs to be repainted (gray). Any inexpensive recommendations to remove old paint/surface rust? Any liquid product or tool better than the other? Sandpaper, polycarbide abrasive, or wire wheel?

The item will not fit in a media blast cabinet. The metal face plate is roughly 6' x 1.5".

Oven cleaner.

3M paint removal disc from the hardware store, and you can use them on other stuff too.

First off what metal is it? Brass, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, etc. etc. Secondly, are the dimensions accurate? Is it only 1 1/2 inches wide?

I'd be inclined to use a D-A and some 80-grit after degreasing the top.
Depending on the intended use, maybe no new paint, progressively finer grits until you get as smooth a surface as you want.
Or cover it with a metal sheet, wood, whatever - again depending on intended use.
For repainting I'm thinking some kind of 2-part epoxy for fuel/solvent resistance.

Here is a photo of the face plate on the steel work bench. The bench has three shields (LH, RH, and rear) to prevent items from rolling of as well as this face plate to attach to the front edge of the bench top to finish it off and hold down a thin piece of wood/plastic, if the person decides not work on the steel surface top.

Still my vote.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40070710/

I'll bet that paint is pretty thin so 80 may be a bit aggressive IMO. Id start with something like maybe 320 and go down if needed or try the oven cleaner. Acetone with a SS kitchen scrub might work in a well ventilated area

.

Scotch-Brite Pad

Update: I finally got around to removing the paint from a few metal workbench pieces with oven cleaner. Overall, I thought the oven cleaner loosened/removed a majority of the paint from the metal. I simply sprayed the product on the metal surfaces and allowed it to work for roughly an hour before attempting to remove paint. A majority of the paint was cleared from the metal using plastic putty knife.

I wore a mask, safety glasses and gloves. The job was completed outside in the yard.

Thank you for the input!