Vinegar Bath with the Handle?

[JonathanCharles]

Hey BF friends!

The title sums it up. I want to give an axe head of mine a vinegar bath but the handle is intact and doesn't need replacing. Will swell/compromise the integrity of the haft?

Thanks

 

[300Six]

I'd be leery of having 5% acetic acid (household vinegar) infusing all through good wood. If in fact the handle is still in good shape then I have a hard time imagining that the head needs drastic remediation. Do you have access to a drill or grinder-powered wire wheel? Wire wheels come in various sizes and grades from coarse to fine and use steel wire on through to gentler brass/bronze. Something like this will more than adequately clean up the head for you.
Good luck!

 

[cityofthesouth]

I'd second that. If you want to clean it up with the handle attached, a wire wheel is probably better. I guess I can't say it with authority but I would agree that acid + wood = probably not that great. I actually did just soak a tool with the handle attached in vinegar but the handle was beyond saving so I can't say that anything good, bad or indifferent happened to it. By the same token, rehanging an existing good handle is a quick job as long as there isn't a bunch of nonsense jammed in the eye (which is itself a good reason to rehang) and a wedge can be made at home to replace the old one. Even if there is junk stuck in the eye, I have found pretty good methods for removing most of it in relatively short order.

 

[Remzy]

Theses guys above are pros, id add my humble voice to them, dont soak in vinegar.

 

[Square_peg]

Remove the handle before you soak. There's a thread here about how to remove, save and reuse handles.