Thread: Death of the Ducks

pm sent, I will give it a try if there are any left....

For a little excitement, put on sunglasses and take your old rotten celluloid outside and burn it on the sidewalk or some other safe surface. It's as bright as magnesium! Pretty scary to think of fires in projection booths!

Ok this may be a stupid question, but how can you tell if the scales on your razor are celluloid?

Rub them briskly on a cloth and see if they smell sort of piney. Better, but slightly destructive, is to heat the end of a paper clip and press it into the scale where nobody will see. If they're celluloid scales you'll definitely get the piney smell.

Originally Posted by roughkype

For a little excitement, put on sunglasses and take your old rotten celluloid outside and burn it on the sidewalk or some other safe surface. It's as bright as magnesium! Pretty scary to think of fires in projection booths!

It's only slightly different chemically from nitro-cellulose gunpowder. IF I recall the story correctly, the original formula for celluloid was created to imitate the ivory that was used in billiard balls. After initial production it was found that in some instances the billiard balls would explode. Made for an interesting game I'd think.

It's funky stuff. I've got pocket knives that date to the late 1890's to the early 1900's with cell scales. No problems. I've had others that weren't 10 years old and never carried or used that went South.

Here's what happened to a Case pocket knife made between 1964 and 1969 with Case's infamous YELLOW scales.

Knife when I got it. Cell decomposition is evident by shrinkage and warping. I removed the scales after the pics were taken.



Odd thing about that particular cell when it goes is that it doesn't eat the steel, it dissolves the brass liners.

I placed the scales outside, in the shade and this is what they turned into in two weeks time.