Experimental Results!
Since no one said 'No', I decided to try this (post above). Sorry - no pictures: my camera is not good at close up photos.
Batch 1
These were 'nothing to lose' pre-sets that had enough surface rust on them that a normal mortal with other things to do would simply have thrown them out.
I swished them around in some white vinegar and let them sit for a couple of hours. There were suspended particle of rust (?) in the clear liquid.
The black tie straps with silver rivets turned into mostly all silver in color.
I placed them in a glass baby food jar filled with vinegar in a water bath in my HF USC and set it for 8 minutes (max) with heat. Hit it for another 8 minutes and went out to cut the grass. Apparently, my USC keeps the heat on even after it finishes (?), cause a couple of hours later it was still hot! The liquid was all dark in color and the tie straps and rivets had all turned black. Holy pickled pre-sets Batman!
Some of the black coating came off when rinsing with water and a light brushing with an old toothbrush and a light scrubbing against a Scotchbrite pad on the table. Hit them with some WD-40 to prevent future rusting.
Results: All visible rust is gone, with little surface damage visible: appear to be fine for work chains.
Batch 2
These were in much better shape, but had some light, cosmetic rust around the rivet heads that I thought would be hard to fully remove with brushing.
Swished them in white vinegar in the glass baby food jar for just a few minutes, then gave them one, 8 minute treatment in the USC with the heat 'Off'.
Rinsed, brushed, and WD-40 as above.
Results: Tie straps are lightly lighter in color than when they went in. Rivets remain silver in color. Rust is gone.
Conclusion
Seems to work. Soaking in vinegar alone for a long enough period of time may have done the trick, but hard to know if it would have cleaned around the rim of the rivets. Only tried the USC because I had one.
Watch out for over-cooking: try it first without the heat.
Philbert