Electrolysis - odd question maybe

[Moonw]

Serious question...how do you tell when you have to stop? In all the "right after" pictures I see that the piece still has"suff" on it that you need to scrub down. So - how can you tell that all the "pores" have been thoroughly cleaned? Do you just stop when you don't see any red rust, as what's left microscopically won't progress once you put on some oil?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Because of the electric current, any of the rust that was touching the metal has been reverted to elemental iron. I would be worrying more about the fact that you're left with bare shiny metal that's likely to flash-rust if not immediately protected after cleaning.

 

[Moonw]

Thanks. I did a short "demo" session yesterday with an old tool and now I'm pretty confident to go on with the old axe.