Thread: What are these scales made out of?

I have sanded/drilled/cleaned a number of old french scales which gave of a smell just like horn, had faint waves/ripples/grain like horn and one even had a slightly variegated colour like some horn does - but - they were not horn. I inspected a broken scale from one of these razors and although it was fibrous when flexed and broken, it was bound in some sort of synthetic matrix, a bit like fibreglass but with all the glass matting lined up parallel. None of them had a striking appearance like yours, they were mainly very dark brown or black. There was/is something man-made out there that had that characteristic burnt horn smell - maybe the filler was powdered horn or hair?

Regards,
Neil.

Contacted the seller today, the lot was used by his grand dad; so I am going to assume American. Either celluloid or that hard rubber compound. They won't take a shining.