Thread: Something smells like burning popcorn

Does anyone know what this is? I get the smell sometimes when buffing scales, and most often it's when buffing the edges of the scales (aka close the razor, hold the razor back facing the wheel, razor is up/down). Is it the scales or stuff on them or crud or what? I've never noticed any burning look to the scales, just the smell.

Its all about what the scales are made of! Horn doesnt smell too much, but real celluloid certainly has a smell, or the rubber/vulcanite stuff has its own strange stench

I can't really speak to buffing, as my buffers aren't in yet... However, when I was using the sanding bit on a dremel to quickly trim stuff to shape, I did noticed that celluloid being sanded smells faintly piney, celluloid when it goes up in smoke (highly flammable... gotta start remembering that) smells like burning rubber... Also, Horn being sanded with the dremel smelled like burning something... maybe that's your popcorn stench...

Probably caused by heat as Magpie states. Loss pressure shorter time spans on the wheel and maybe slower wheel speeds should help.

The only time I have noticed a smell like that is when bakelite gets hot - it starts of as a faintly sharp electrical-installation smell, thens get very acrid and sometimes fishy. Never noticed it buffing scales, though, but I have just got a bit of cloth and buffed some bakelite very fast and got a faint whiff.

I wouldn't think it was celluloid, horn or vulcanite - the first mostly has a pine/menthol/camphor smell like ShavedZombie noted, horn smells like burnt hair or nails and the other is bit like old car tyres. Just my nose's opinion, though!

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Does anyone know what this is? I get the smell sometimes when buffing scales, and most often it's when buffing the edges of the scales (aka close the razor, hold the razor back facing the wheel, razor is up/down). Is it the scales or stuff on them or crud or what? I've never noticed any burning look to the scales, just the smell.

Dylan -- would you mind posting a sample of that odor? Something I could inhale through my nasal meatus? Meatuses?

Originally Posted by stimpy52

Dylan -- would you mind posting a sample of that odor? Something I could inhale through my nasal meatus? Meatuses?

Meatuses, matey!

Regards,
Neil

Well I know it wasn't horn, because I can tell horn apart from other materials. It's been on those plain black scales - they could be celluloid, vulconite or bakelite.

I remember talking heat with you, Joe, and I get the smell even with really light pressure making a single stroke (usually a cutting stroke, to help get inbetween the scales by the wedge end). I'll have to remember to ask you at the meet. Maybe we can sample the smell then.

Hey Dylan,

You dont mention what your using to polish with. Some of the metal polishes are not so good on the softer plastics.
you might try something with a more "coarse" make up, that will do less "smearing" and more "cutting" if you know what I mean.

Or perhaps just some flitz on a clean wheel?