Lifespan?

Hey guys,

In terms of natural scale material, what is the average lifespan/durability of say precious wood (Cocobolo, Ironwood, etc.) compared to horn and bone? IMO horn is beautiful and shiny but can also feel slippery at times...

If they're well looked after, well made razors will outlive their owners and probably their owners children..!

Cheaper razors may not last as long, nor ones that are badly treated, but as long as you keep them clean and dry and take good care of them, they'll last decades if not centuries.

+1 on what stu says. The majority of my problems selling salad bowls or kitchen utensils are when people put them in a dish washer or let them sit in water. My favorite yet is when a lady showed up with a pink spoon she had stirred kool aid and left my spoon in the pitcher in the fridge.
But of all of the many 100-200 year old razors out there I've only seen a couple of wood scaled and they were pretty rough. The horn does delaminate, but I think with improper care of the natural materials the horn may out last wood. With the exceptions of certain woods like Ipe, which are so hard and dense that they are practically impervious to stupid or careless humans.

You could always seal the wood when you finish it (such as with RenWax), and then it should be good for a loooong time.

A good stabilized wood will last up to thousands of years in ideal conditions...

Probably of all the scale materials, I think that celluloid may have the lowest lifespan of perhaps 40-80 years. It just seems that they react with so many things that after a few decades, they start showing their wear. Now, having said that, I have some 80+ year old celluloid scales that look just like new.