Thread: Scale rot?

I've been following a lot of razor sales on eBay, in hopes of learning about going prices there while also becoming more familiar with models and brands. One thing that leaves me puzzled (no big surprise, considering how much of a newb I am!) is judging vintage razor's condition and restoration potential.

The razor in the photos (I grabbed them from a current eBay auction) has fine, red rust that primarily involves the edge and the adjacent 1/3 - 1/2 of the blade's width. This area appears to coincide with the part of the blade that would be enclosed within the scales. Is this an example of "scale rot"? And is this degree of damage amenable to restoration? I also see that there's some pitting, a muted/broken point (?), and other issues, but I'm mostly curious about the rust.

Thanks in advance! By the way: I'm not planning to bid on the razor...I'm just trying to get educated.

Scale rot as you call it, or Cel rot refers to a degradation of the blade caused by a breakdown of the celluloid in the scales. Usually, but not always, the scales are yellow, or a variation thereof. Sometimes the scales are multicolored, and the blade portion nearest the yellow color suffers the most. Looking at these pics I would say there is a good possibility this blade has been affected, not necessarily by the scales it is wearing. (Could have been rescaled).
Here is a link to a whole thread created just for the purpose of education about buying...
http://straightrazorpalace.com/aucti...bay-101-a.html

Is this too far gone? Hard to say without having it in hand. If I were to come across this blade I would skip it, unless it were real cheap. That is because I intend to use all blades I buy, or give them away as gifts, for use. But if someone just needed to fill in a set with this blade for collecting purposes, this looks just fine. The blade is full, the pitting light, the scales are beautiful and the tang stamp of the two guys is appealing.

The biggest issue with Cell Rot is that it has very few rules..

You basically have to take the time test the razor when it is in the early stages and not extremely evident...

On the razor shown there is just no way of knowing before testing.. If the rust patteren were blotched to follow the swirls in the scales I would be more suspect...

There are certain Brands and Types of scales that are more susceptable to Cell Rot but there again are no rules to this..

Even along a Brand line there is no rule, ie: Red Imp scales are a very suspect line -BUT- many of them show no signs which to my eyes means that perhaps they changed manufactuers at sometime or the process..

This is the biggest issue with trying to figure out cell rot is that there were many differnt processes to making the Celluloid so there are also many different ways it breaks down

Looks like whatever u got there will likely remove with some polishing or at worst high grit wet sand paper. If it cell rot I would be surprised. Looks more like the result of being stored in a generally moist/humid environment

The seller could have been a bit more generous with a much better shot of the edge. From those two pic's of the blade I cannot tell if the edge is compromised or not. I hope you are ok as number 14 blades are usually great shavers. Let us know
if you do not mind.

Originally Posted by lz6

The seller could have been a bit more generous with a much better shot of the edge. From those two pic's of the blade I cannot tell if the edge is compromised or not. I hope you are ok as number 14 blades are usually great shavers. Let us know
if you do not mind.

As I mentioned, I have no intention of purchasing this razor, so I won't be able to provide any updates. But thanks for the comment, anyway!

The biggest issue with cell rot is once it starts, because it is chemically induced it progresses very rapidly. It can pit a razor in a matter of weeks. We think of the classic case where the entire plane of the razor is affected however you can have it in one of two isolated spots. The hallmark to me isn't the pattern it's the speed and severity.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The biggest issue with cell rot is once it starts, because it is chemically induced it progresses very rapidly. It can pit a razor in a matter of weeks. We think of the classic case where the entire plane of the razor is affected however you can have it in one of two isolated spots. The hallmark to me isn't the pattern it's the speed and severity.

So...do you think that this is a case of cell rot?

I think green scales are prone to cell rot as well... a la Otto Deutsch Hans transparent dark green ones.

So what is to be learned so far ? The razor has holes in the blade. Could be from rust or maybe cell rot. Either way there is a bunch of sanding to do to make it nice again providing the holes aren't so deep you can't get a clean edge on it. Once you do that then it's time to use it and keep an eye on it or test it for cell rot. If it fails the test then it's time to change out the scales. Of course you could skip all that and just change out the scales. You see , if you remove what is causing the problem then there is no problem. So it doesn't really mater if this razor has rust or cell rot as it stands. To try and guess which one caused the problem is futile and really irrelevant.