Thread: Celluloid Degassing with impressive results

I've been doing a test on cell rot. I've kept this one in a air tight bottle, for several years. I check it yearly, and stored in my shed.

Here's a pic from last year.



I put I fish hook in it, too see how quickly it reacted to the gasses. That was 3-4 years ago. Nothing I could really see the first year, but it was , last year. I won't open again, till spring.

Wow that's bad. Wonder if early celluloid is more gassy than the newer stuff? Could the fact that it was in a bag by itself have any thing to do with it?(like smaller space making the gas more concentrated?)

Newer celluloid (and I mean really recent stuff) has a stabilizer in it which retards the breakdown. Of course under the right conditions.... It's like a water resistant watch. It ain't waterproof.

Tried to heat up some old formula Celluloid in a pan of salt once to attempt straightening.
Got it too hot. Holy SMOKES! Flamethrower stuff!
Had to let it burn out.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Tried to heat up some old formula Celluloid in a pan of salt once to attempt straightening.
Got it too hot. Holy SMOKES! Flamethrower stuff!
Had to let it burn out.

Yessir...mean stuff.!!

Kinda same thing here, but was using a heat lamp.
Once it started, almost impossible to stop. Had to drop it in a glass of ice tea to extinguish it, thankfully.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Newer celluloid (and I mean really recent stuff) has a stabilizer in it which retards the breakdown. Of course under the right conditions.... It's like a water resistant watch. It ain't waterproof.

Off topic really but in my early 30's I managed a shop in England called Milletts, we sold jeans, walking boots, rucksacks, tents, that sort of thing. We also sold waterproof jackets.

The actual waterproof stuff had a hydro static head which is how waterproof material is tested and measured for a claim of Waterproofness, in the lab but rarey written on the label.

The other stuff was sold as water resistant or shower proof which meant absoloutely nothing.

Even a piece of paper is water resistant to a degree so basically, anything called water resistant or shower proof, take it with a pinch of salt because it's marketing speak. Water proof or nothing. There's no standard for water resistance. Is a watch waterproof to 30ft or is it water resistant to 30ft and hope for the best

Here endeth the gospel according to Steve

Originally Posted by outback

I've been doing a test on cell rot. I've kept this one in a air tight bottle, for several years. I check it yearly, and stored in my shed.

Here's a pic from last year.



I put I fish hook in it, too see how quickly it reacted to the gasses. That was 3-4 years ago. Nothing I could really see the first year, but it was , last year. I won't open again, till spring.

I have a few like those, they are seperated from all others.

Originally Posted by outback

I've been doing a test on cell rot. I've kept this one in a air tight bottle, for several years. I check it yearly, and stored in my shed.

Here's a pic from last year.



I put I fish hook in it, too see how quickly it reacted to the gasses. That was 3-4 years ago. Nothing I could really see the first year, but it was , last year. I won't open again, till spring.

I had a similar one once and decided for some reason to try and break it with my hands.

Thank goodness when the thing snapped with relatively little force it was not sharp enough to cut my fingers.

Not to digress but in the watch world when a watch is marked say 200 meters it is certified for that. They test it by putting the case sans mvmt in a vessel and pressurizing it and then check for water leakage.

Of course they don't use waterproof anymore cause once you take it out of the store many things can compromise the rating. Usually if a watch isn't marked water resistant that means 30 meters which translates to a few drops of water on it if you are washing your hands.