Thread: Help identifying Cellrot...

Hello, gentlemen.

I started working on a razor I got, and after removing the scales I encountered something that looks suspicious (images below) on both scales. The images show what it looks like after I tried cleaning it with a dry cloth.

there was some rust on the blade, most of it was superficial. The rust that did leave pitting was near the tow of the blade - not close to the suspicious stains....

I have no idea if the scales are celluloid or plastic... (It's a Heartring, with original scales)

Thank you!

That sort of grunge is common - a cloth will hardly touch it. Steel wool 0000 grade or fine sandpaper will remove it. Don't go mad and change the plane of the inner surfaces, or the blade may close strangely (to one side or another) when done.

The brown stains are a sign of sloppy keeping - the razor has been closed with the tang (and probably the tip) wet or sudsy, or stood up so the water ran down to the tip - there is more of a clearance on either side of the blade at the tip than there is at the tang, which generally rubs the inside of the scales unless friction washers are employed - yours looks like it has had friction washers at this (the pivot) end. The black grunge is more or less unavoidable and is a sign of metal against metal wear producing metal dust, which forms a sort of a paste if a bit of oil is added at the pivot.

The insides of the scales seem quite textured/rough - I usually smooth them over so there is little chance of them retaining water.

I know the scales you mean - have serviced an awful lot of these, and never seen one with cell-rot.

Regards,
Neil

I can't tell from the pictures but are those the washers still on the scales or is it where they have worn the scales in that spot? Neil, wouldn't those scales have been smooth on the inside being celluloid? Just about all of the man made scales I see are smooth it's the bone or horn that have texture from being cut.

Originally Posted by guitstik

I can't tell from the pictures but are those the washers still on the scales or is it where they have worn the scales in that spot? Neil, wouldn't those scales have been smooth on the inside being celluloid? Just about all of the man made scales I see are smooth it's the bone or horn that have texture from being cut.

On the bottom image the washer is still there. on the top it's just a mark that was left from the washer.

Neil - thank you. I'll smooth the inside of the scales. Also - I wasn't worried about the dark spots. I know they're common on old unattended razors. Before I cleaned it, the tang was black, and so were parts of the spine.

I hope to finish working on that one tomorrow and I'll upload some pics :] It turned out nice :]

Joel - I would have thought they would be smooth if genuine celluloid. I have just dug out a pair of 1960s or so vintage ones, and the material of the scales has the metal foil logo as Haim said, but is ivorine patterned and very flexible. The inside surfaces appear to be quite smooth, but in common with celluloid if it wasn't moulded, the side not facing the mould has less of a finish and a matt sort of appearance. Nothing some tripoli and a buffer would not solve, though...

You are right about other materials - the ivory scales were cut on a thin flexible toothed circular blade, and you can see the remarkably fine cut lines on the inside.

Some horn, though relatively smooth, shows evidence of a rather coarse rasp at both the wedge and the pivot ends - used to provide some turning resistance, I imagine.

Horn that has been hot-pressed in a three piece heated iron mould-set is smooth on both sides though - the heat is enough to break it down and make it flow. With this type the scale-presser (it was an art and many practiced it in and around Sheffield and London both before and after the 1800s) often hand-graved his initials into the inner part of the mould - these show as raised lettering on the inner face of the scales. They weren't too bright, judging by the many examples I have seen, not realising that their initials would come out back to front...

I did see an interesting razor by C&C once - the initials on the insides of the scales had a line going through them, and another set of initials were alongside. C&C did not make razors - they bought the best and sold them on at a profit, so the scales would have been original. It puzzled me for ages, but looking back on it now I suppose the most likely explanation was that a scale-presser bought them from a third party - another scale-presser or the widow or family of someone involved in that practice, so he just scratched out the original initials and added his own. Only the setter-in working in a factory or a jobbing freeman working from home would have seen the inside of the scales...

Regards,
Neil

As always Neil, you are a fountain of information.