Come on over, the weather's fine!
They say electrolysis is a good way to clean heavy rust on old tools. Never done it myself, but here's some info and pictures of the process:
http://users.eastlink.ca/~pspencer/nsaeta/electrolysis.html#setup
Buying old stuff to reuse has a certain romance, even spirit, I suppose... honoring those before. Some say the old steel is better, too.
