Thread: What not to buy on ebay:

Ivan, you just don't want anyone to buy them cause you want them all for yourself!

Originally Posted by mainaman

Joe,
I think this applies, however not naming the auction, just posting pics as examples of defects will be very educational for people that want to try their hand on eBay. If someone recognizes a pic of their item they have the choice to go on and sell or cancel the listing. After all we care for our own not for someone that wants to make easy dollar. My 2 c.

I agree. Sorry to keep asking about this, but I'm still unclear as to what scale rot is. Is it the crazy pitting you see on that blade or is it some damage to the scales, or both?

Originally Posted by heirkb

I agree. Sorry to keep asking about this, but I'm still unclear as to what scale rot is. Is it the crazy pitting you see on that blade or is it some damage to the scales, or both?

It is the crazy pitting you see on the blade.

There is a chemical reaction that hits celluloid and causes it
to out gas corrosive chemicals that put nasty pits in the
blade. The painful part is that the worst pitting is found
under the scales where the blade is thin and has no steel
to spare. When you sand away the pits the blade gets
lost.

A razor with scale rot stored in a cigar box with good razors will
damage other blades without cell rot.

The implication is that if you own a brand new blade it
can suffer by being placed in a box with one of these old bad apples.
Those that have "lots" of blades should note this well.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Ivan, you just don't want anyone to buy them cause you want them all for yourself!

No, I've quit already, and on the occasional stuff I may want I have very little competition

Originally Posted by heirkb

I agree. Sorry to keep asking about this, but I'm still unclear as to what scale rot is. Is it the crazy pitting you see on that blade or is it some damage to the scales, or both?

The reason that everyone feels its scale rot is because scale rot pretty much follows the contour of the scales on the blade, at least in a more noticeable way. As Niftyshaving said, its damage to the blade caused by the scales outgassing some kind of nastiness.

Excellent education on scale rot -- I see it now. It's all in the pattern of pitting on the blade, correct?

So here's the follow up -- is rotting something that happens to all celluloid with age, or is it limited to some smaller portion of the total population? And if the latter, what portion?

It's just that I've always leaned on the side of keeping the original, celluloid scales on a razor rather than replacing them with more modern plastic, but am I actually playing Russian roulette with my razors by doing so? If celluloid rot is relatively common or happens to all celluloid with age, then it would seem like I am.

It doesn't seem to happen to all plastics as they age. I'm no chemist so I can't say as to what the difference is (poor formula, poor manufacturing, bad raw materials). It seems that bad plastic is more prevalent than I had originally thought though.

I've seen this on electric guitars, even as "old" as the early 1970's. The phenomenon is obviously more visible in "Closet Classics", where the instrument has been sealed in its case for many years and the corrosive gases have nowhere to escape to. It shows up as unusually heavy oxidation on metal parts, such as pickup springs. Otherwise the damage is harder to detect until the plastic itself begins to shrivel and crack. Sometimes there's even a hazy/oily residue left on the surface of the plastic and the tell tale chemical stink of the gas itself.

Most vintage guitar repairmen would tell you the same fix. Swap the part out and either trash it or store it somewhere else (far away) for posterity. You're actually killing the collectors value of the instrument if you allow the corrosion to continue.

There have been some very "good" discussions about cell rot throughout the forum Search Neil Miller's threads/posts he is one of the most educated guys I know on the subject....

Originally Posted by gugi

I like Glen's advise - don't buy on ebay for the first 6 months, but there are always the new guys who think they're too smart and saving $10-$20 bucks is worth the risk.

That is the first part of my advice the second half of the sentence says "Or until you do not have to ask anyone, if the razor is collectible or ya got a good deal"

Honestly the funniest threads I see on here are the ones that start with " I just bought this/these razors did I do ok" ??????

Because you either got royally screwed, or you stumbled with shear blind luck into a great razor and now we all hate you

Originally Posted by gssixgun

T
Honestly the funniest threads I see on here are the ones that start with " I just bought this/these razors did I do ok" ??????

I just get my link to the "Do Not Buy" list ready when I see that (surprisingly common) thread title.