Thread: It looks & smells like cell rot to me

The scales have so shrunken that the toe of the blade actually sticks out beyond the end of the scales. And the discoloration and rust from the cutting edge to halfway up the blade is just nasty. This razor was included with some other razors I won on fleabay so it is no real loss. So, what do you think: is it worth spending any effort trying to save it or is it garbage?

You are probably right about the Cel-Rot but really it doesn't matter if the scales are too short toss them either way...

I would at least try the blade out and see what is up with the steel...

Tape the spine and put it on a low grit stone, do 20 laps heel forward, straight down the hone use some moderate pressure and see what the steel looks like on the new bevel...

You are not trying to sharpen anything here, you just need to see what the bevel steel looks like....

toss the scales and save the blade. even if you never use the blade, you'll have something for dremel practice, but i think you could totally bring that blade back with some tlc.

The scales are toast to me, scale rot or no scale rot.

I voted to try and save it. As the poll says, who knows ? While it is the general consensus that celluloid rot is the kiss of death and there is no antidote the same was said for polio until Dr.Salk succeeded in finding a vaccine. You may be on the verge of a great discovery.

I bought a Merkur straight from a member in South Africa. He stated in the description that he suspected that the scales suffered from the rot. When I received the razor they were certainly grungy. I took the razor and soaked it in Scrubbing Bubbles and went to work on the innards of the scales with Q-tips with the ends flattened with a hammer.

With the bubbles and a bit of elbow grease I got rid of the grunge. Wiped the blade down with Semichrome and all was well for a while. Months went by and the rust reappeared and I thought the dreaded rot had imperceptibly returned. I wiped the blade with Navel Jelly and let it sit. I cleaned and repeated this a few times and then did the Semichrome again. So far it has been over a month and no rust . I cannot say whether these scales ever had the rot or if they didn't but if you're sure yours do it would be an interesting experiment to see if you could salvage them.

Originally Posted by jockeys

toss the scales and save the blade. i think you could totally bring that blade back with some tlc.

I agree. Scales are done, but the blade is fine. I didn't vote because I didn't really see that as an option up there.

Toss it!!

James.

Rescale her. or send it to one of the restorers for a nice pair of scales.

There is spine wear too. You could get a shaving edge on the blade but the scales are a loss.

Save the blade... ditch the scales! put her in a new dress then give her a spin.