Originally Posted by
Galaxy51
I tend to think that celluloid rot damage is vastly exaggerated
First off turn of the century scales are 100 years old. The damage we see took a very long time to occur.
I think it is more of a product of improper storage.
I have seen where one side of the blade is much more effected than the other. This has me beleiving the razor was stored for a very long time in one position and I would imagine that it likely was contained in some sort of container.
The damage to the steel will follow the curvature of the scales which indicates that as little as 1/4" of distance from the celluloid is safe.
Heat and restricted ventilation likely were contributors to the cell rot.
I beleive high humidity and long term storage with fingerprints has damaged far more razors than cell rot.
I lived in a very humid area for a couple of years and found that the gun cases that had so well protected my guns in other drier areas had become a curse.
The guns withour cases did much better in that area because they were better ventilated.
I think the same thing applies to razor steel.
I would bet that if a cell rot damaged razor had the damage to the steel repaired and given a thin coat of oil, that it could rest out in the open for the next hundred years without problems.