After a 3-day soak in 30% distilled vinegar, the old French hewing axe is almost rust free. The initial post about this piece was some months back and am just now getting to it. The eye and a couple deep pits are still full of rust. I brought out the big gun and am soaking it for another 24hours in @evapo_rust That should take care of the stubborn stuff. With some of the rust off, I can see were the eye was forge welded to the cheeks and how the edge was forge welded in. This will never make a return to timber frame construction, but it would be a crime to let it just rust into dust. I have some 2” thick ash that I will handle it with. #hewingaxe #frenchaxe #timberframeaxe #oldiron #handforged #rescue #wallhanger (at West Seattle) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVrGfRcJ8dG/?utm_medium=tumblr