Thread: Cell Rot ?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

OK I have searched high and low for that original thread, but it seems that I only posted on it and did not start it, so it is somewhere in almost 3000 posts....

You may find this thread helpful - thank dwessell for subscription folders!
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...-d-repair.html

[PS: The attachment search strategy, brilliant Glen!]

Super Lee to the rescue that's the one !!!!!

I just found it too by going back through my pic attachmnets

TY LEE

Thanx to all for the great input & Thanx Glen and Lee for the links.
Sure is nice to have a sounding board when yer stuck.

My conclusions on this are : Because the rust etc was so prolific & not relational to scale pattern I'll assume it was just poor maintenance. The scales look fine under magnification, no smell etc. but I've been caught out that way before so I'm always wary.

I'll have this razor a few more days yet so should be able to see any further deterioration, if it happens.
Nothing so far. I think it'll be all good.

Thanx again

FWIW I don't think the side effects of cell rot show up on a blade after a few days but more like a few weeks/months. I'm not (nor anyone else on this subject I'm sure) 100% sure though.

Originally Posted by Philadelph

FWIW I don't think the side effects of cell rot show up on a blade after a few days but more like a few weeks/months. I'm not (nor anyone else on this subject I'm sure) 100% sure though.

I'm sure of one thing. Cell rot seems to have very few rules governing it.
The Beau Brummel I did recently started to tarnish at the original rust sites within days of the resto & that was thru a coat of oil.
It remains nice & shiny since I changed the scales.

Celluloid was originally manufactured from collodion. Collodion is a substance which early photographers flowed onto a glass plate or piece of japanned tin as in the wetplate collodion process (I still take pictures using this process and manufacture collodion). To make the collodion suitable for use as a plastic material (as in Hyatt's first use of it in making billiard balls in 1868) it was added to camphor.

Collodion is an inherently unstable substance. It is made by treating pure cotton with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acid - the end result is guncotton or nitrocellulose, the cellulose coming from the cotton. This is then dissolved in ether and alcohol to make a thick liquid. For plastics, powdered ivory, asbestos, bone and other filler material was added.

The very early celluloids could spontaneously ignite. Poorly washed/prepared celluloid released nitric acid vapour causing rust and the breakdown of other plastics. Others, to which acetone were added (1940s) would breakdown releasing acetic acid (vinegar) hence the "vinegar syndrome" in the breakdown of old celluloid film and movie stock.

The breakdown of these materials seems to depend on how they were kept and how much filler they had in them. Confined spaces, heat and darkness accelerate the decomposition of cellulose-acetate, while heat and exposure to sunlight tend to accelerate the decomposition of cellulose-nitrate.

In both cases, the filler material plays a large part. The more filler and the darker it is, the slower the rate of decomposition. Maybe this is because UV rays are prevented from penetrating far into the material, or becuase the higher percentage of filler means a smaller proportion of cellulose.

The process is irreversible, and once it starts in one object of a collection it will act like a catalyst and rapidly spread to the others.

There is still a danger of the earlier types catching fire, perhaps during buffing or mechanical sanding when a lot of heat is generated.

Asbestos as a filler is a bit of a worry too!

Regards,
Neil.

Great post, great overview of early celluloid.

Have some rep

Charlie

Wow Neil that was interesting TY

Interesting Neil. With those kind of manufacturing materials, planned obsolescence seems factored in.