Thread: First shot a new scales.

Originally Posted by Splashone

I believe the bolsters were originally cast into the celluloid.

When the scales broke and Splashone told me to dismatle the pieces and send him the hardware along with the razor so he could make new one's. He also said that he wanted them to sit flush and didn't know how it was done at the factory I asked a Mod who told me that he 'thought' that they were placed on the plastic scales 'hot' and that they seated themselves.

I think that his solution is a great one!! Time consuming? Yes! Looking Good? OH YEA!!!!

That explanation seemed plausible until I heated up a piece of metal and put it to a celluloid scale. The sizzling and puff of smoke made me think it was time to get a fire extinguisher.

As I said he 'thought' that was how it was done! I will say this, those bolster didn't want to let go very easily!!!

Did you find any kind of 'adhesive' residue???

There was no residue. They were an "exact" fit into the scale so the scale had to flow around the bolster. Some of the rounded edges on the bolsters actually had scale material up over the top of them. Thus their reluctance to let go.

Originally Posted by Splashone

That explanation seemed plausible until I heated up a piece of metal and put it to a celluloid scale. The sizzling and puff of smoke made me think it was time to get a fire extinguisher.

Chemistry may have defied you there. You can't make a baked egg runny by heating it up, I guess the same goes for celluloid.

Hi Gang!

As promised More Pictures!!

However, I must first tell you that the razor is a great shaver! Also the pinning was very nicely done!! The blade centers when closing and it holds in all positions!

Alright! Now to the fun stuff!!







OK! So I'm no Ansel Adams but this is the best this Old Redneck County Boy could do! What do you expect from a Mastodon!

Nice job with the caps

Originally Posted by Splashone

That explanation seemed plausible until I heated up a piece of metal and put it to a celluloid scale. The sizzling and puff of smoke made me think it was time to get a fire extinguisher.

There is hot & then there is too hot.

Neil Miller might be worth a pm as to how they were originally fitted.

When we can get celluloid today (yes, it is still made) it is usual to get it in sheet form. This has been 'aged' for many months after oven hardening to drive off excess moisture, etc. It is aged to allow for shrinkage. The old time celluloid may have only been aged for a couple of months, nowadays it is more than double that.

In its pre-aged 'green' form it is soft and full of excess moisture - some companies just pressed the water out of it. When first mixed it is mouldable, and quite a high heat is used in the moulding process. Unfortunately using this degree of heat once it is aged is likely to ignite it.

Hyatt, the entrepreneur who brought it to fame though not inventing it, used it in a heated moulding press to make billiard balls. By 1872 he had filed his plans for the first celluloid injection moulding machine.

I would expect that hot celluloid was forced into scale moulds that already contained the bolsters. The fact that you can sometimes find examples with celluloid fins over tne metalwork supports tbis view. It is a pity that in some cases the ageing process was rushed, allowing the celluloid scales to shrink around the blade, sometimes wedging it firmly in place.

The amount of heat used varied with the type of celluloid. Tha acetate version (the one that degrades to give a vinegar smell) can take much more heat than the even more unstable nitrate version, and the improved triacetate version can bear more heat than both.

Regards
Neil

What scale thickness did u order from masecraft