Thread: Questions about celluloid rot

Well, I was bored yesterday so started playing with a DD wonderedge with a nasty case of cel rot.

I was actually able to buff all of the rust and most of the pitting off of the blade. I'm concerned there may not be enough metal left for the blade to hold up. (after taking the much off of a hollow blade, there's not a lot of thickness left)

Questions are:
Has anyone ever had any success with restoring a hollow blade with heavy rust? Does it hold up over time?

Does the celluloid ever stabilize? Could I put the original scales back on, or are they continuing to off-gas vapors that will eat the metal again?

The scales are shot, they will continue to rot, as for the blade, I would have to have it my hands to pronounce any kind of judgement on it, but chances are you will be ok.

Yea, once the scales start they pretty much fuel themselves. Maybe there is some kind of chemical treatment to stabilize it. You would have to ask a restoration expert (and I don't mean a razor restoration expert but someone who does high value archaeological type stuff) or chemist. Otherwise trash the scales.

As far as the rust goes it depends how heavy it is.

From what I've read, the scales have had it. With the blade, I reckon try honing it up and see how it goes from there.

Something I've thought about, but not yet tried, is drilling out all the affected celluloid with a Dremel and then filling in the gap with epoxy, rather like filling a tooth..! You could colour the epoxy with dye to match the colour of the scales and you could then sand it in to hide the join.

I've no idea whether this would work, or even if its worth the effort, but its just something I've thought about. As you do..!

Good luck and keep us posted!

maybe this helps: an article on celluloid handles treating them with acetone
Popular Science - Google Boeken

Originally Posted by jojingo

maybe this helps: an article on celluloid handles treating them with acetone
Popular Science - Google Boeken

Once the rot starts, it wont be stopped.

This poses anoth er question i have pondered lately; Is modern celluloid susceptable to rot? There are some very nice celluloids available currentlt that would make nice scales, but i have so far avoided them for not knowing about this rot.
If modern celluloids are different, then new scales fashioned from them could be a solution for you.

No offense HNSB, but you get uglier every time I look at your avatar.

I posted this info recently in another thread here on SRP, but it is worth listing here again as it directly applies to the subject of this thread:

This is a fairly well written article on the subject of celluloid rot by a knife collector. It is definitely worth everyone's time to read it.

Here is the link: Celluloid

By the way, I agree with the author that it is the more transparent forms of celluloid that exhibit the most problems where 'rot' is concerned. In my own experience, that 'tortoise shell' scale material seems to be the worst. To be more specific about this, I would say that when cruising the flea markets (at least over on this side of the pond) I almost never see celluloid rot in old razors except when there are those semi-transparent tortoise shell scales. This could be due to the lack of solid pigment fillers, one of the extra chemicals used to color the mix or else (as the author suggests) it might just come down to a questionable manufacturing process.

And here is a link to yet another article which is more broadly aimed at the decomposition of plastics over time. It also mentions celluloid. And I think it appropriate to quote the article directly:

Most modern plastics decay primarily through reaction with oxygen, so are best preserved by sealing them in an oxygen-free atmosphere. Yet cellulose acetate needs exactly the opposite treatment: without good ventilation, the acetic acid vapour released as the plastic ages builds up, accelerating autocatalytic decay.

Here is the link: Drastic measures save plastic treasures - 16 June 2010 - New Scientist

- Ignatz

Originally Posted by leadduck

No offense HNSB, but you get uglier every time I look at your avatar.

Just wait 'til you see next week's avatar.