Celluloid Degassing with impressive results

I wanted to post these pictures of a razor I had in storage since 2008 and possibly get your feedback ,if any .
This was a frame back that had been in storage since 2008 in a large plastic bin with 90 other frame back razors.This is the only one that suffered any damage.
They were all packaged in individual polyethylene sealed bags with camellia oil to prevent corrosion.I have had some celluloid degassing problems before,but never to this extent.It destroyed the bag that contained it,but the Id label was legible
The razor was a Fredrick Reynolds from around 1870.with imitation tortoise shell scales. (Attachment 338183Attachment 338184Attachment 338184Attachment 338184Attachment 338184A Shame)

Thank,you,and Kindest regards,Gary

Hello Gary,

Welcome, pleased to meet ya :chapeau

Hang around and someone will be along very soon that understands your problem and what to do about it.

In my very humble and inexperienced opinion, I would say serious cell rot but I'll be interested to see what the experts here say. It would be nice for me to be right, not for you of course.

Yea, that is one of the worst cases of cell rot that I have seen.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

Yea, that is one of the worst cases of cell rot that I have seen.

Bob

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Yep
Straight to the garbage

There are several factors that can cause cell rot. Maybe heat maybe humidity maybe light maybe the particular formulation or maybe evil spirits. Take your pick.

I am a retired Mechanical Engineer BSME from Auburn University. I had a strong background in metallurgy,and better than average in chemistry,and this seems to be overly intense/energetic for a normal case of celluloid degassing.Ive had it occur in a few other instances, but this was surprising, regards Gary

Pleased to meet you, Gary. Sorry for your loss.

I'm afraid what combination of things made this case of cell root particularly virulent is anybody's guess.

Bob

Must have been one of the first to get celluloid scales, they were usually died horn or some other natural substance in that era.

Light it

Take that broken off piece outside and light it, see what happens

Better yet take it outside with your phone and take a vid when you light it I would be very interested to see what happens

Celluloid is believed to have been first used in the mid 1880's but it took a little while longer to get to Razor Scales I have also seen reference to 1871 as a first date and even as early as 1841

Keeping in mind that we can't tell if they were original either

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.

Attachment 338186

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! :rofl2:
Had to let it burn out.

Quote:

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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! :rofl2:
Had to let it burn out.

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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. :dropjaw:

Quote:

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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.

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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 :rofl2:

Quote:

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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.

Attachment 338186

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.

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

Quote:

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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.

Attachment 338186

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.

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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.:o

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.