Thread: Cell Rot ?

Any one give me a 2nd opinion here. ?
This one's just in for a hone job but I'm suspecting cell rot tho no active red rust is showing. Had this one in quarantine a few days now. not getting rusty but it just looks suspicious. Not sure whether to recommend a rescale or just hone it & give it back to the customer.
Thanx.

I don't think it's rot, but I'm not sure. Most rot I've seen is only on the portion of the blade that sits between the scales when the blade is closed. I think it also usually looks more like colored rust than blackened stains.

Good point about the location but as far as the colour goes I'm sure the seller cleaned it up.
Still, it hasn't rusted over a few days so I'm prolly worried about nothing.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I don't think it's rot, but I'm not sure. Most rot I've seen is only on the portion of the blade that sits between the scales when the blade is closed. I think it also usually looks more like colored rust than blackened stains.

What he said!!

Thanx guys. I get it but I have seen black tarnish on a fresh resto after 3 days in dodgey scales.
I wonder how long it takes for the red rust to develop ?

The ones that I've seen with cellulose breaking down have an echo of the tortoiseshell effect on the blade - it must be hard to see if it has been cleaned, but maybe you could make out some registration effects of the pattern of the scales on the blade in different lights/angles?

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I don't think it's rot, but I'm not sure. Most rot I've seen is only on the portion of the blade that sits between the scales when the blade is closed. I think it also usually looks more like colored rust than blackened stains.

I agree w/ Holli. I have found that the darker stains come form lather left on the blade or between the scales when the razor is stored but I am sure there are other reasons for it's development.

Not to be the one to rain on the parade, but cell rot might not even show on the blade...
Os I can't tell from yer pics, but take yer magnifying glass and look at the scales really close with a light behind them you can actually see the fibers of the celluloid breaking down they sorta look like fiberglass at that stage sorta stringy runners in the scales...
I have tried and tried to nail down the real positive signal of cell rot like Smell, Looks, Rust, etc: but it just doesn't always show up the same in each case.. You have to use all the symptoms to for sure nail it down...

Some where back in my old threads you will find one about cell rot with pics,, when I get to work and have high speed I'll link it here...

Guess I was assuming onimaru55 was suspecting cell rot based on blade rust. Other than being contagious to other straights, if cell rot is hard to ID and not showing up as 'rust' on the blade why would it be a concern and what would the other detrimental characteristics be?

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....

As to the problems of cell rot the only one other than the eventual destruction of the scales, the only real problem is the it is contagious, because of the off gassing... It seems that different scales and different razors react differently to this.. The one that I posted in the thread had extreme scale rot but not a mark on the Sta-Sharp blade... Others have extreme patterned rust on the blade but hardly any indication on the scales...

maybe there are different strains to the cell rot virus