Storage of celluloid knives

[Knife Nut]

Recently I was going thru my knife rolls checking and cleaning knives. I was shocked when I opened a roll and found a degassed Bradford candy stripe leg knife. What is worse, the knives adjacent to the decomposed handle showed signs of oxidation and rust on the bolsters and exposed blades. I know that old celluloid can and will degas. However, knowing this, what is the best way to store celluloid. My wife has a vacuum food storage unit. Any thoughts on vacuum sealing these knives? Will sealing prevent decomposition?

[OLD GAR]

Not sure of any fix for your problem but I has a similar experience with a set of "SNAP-ON" screw drivers I had stored in a regular machinists wooden tool box for about 5 years. When I opened that tool box the strong acidic odor was overwhelming. And that gas or whatever it was did some collateral damage to some other steel material in the box. BTW "SNAP-ON" refused to replace the tools.

[Jethro Bodine]

KN, I would suggest putting a silica packet in your roll. Can't say for sure how that will spell the degassin, but it will negate any moisture or humidity problems that you might have.

[Classic Case]

I leave my celluloid unwrapped in the open air, so the gas can disperse more readily.

[philco]

My advice:

If you can bear to part with the cell knives, send em to a new home. Problem solved.

If you can not give them up, store them separately from your other knives and, if possible, store them separately from one another. That way if one starts outgassing, it won't cause colateral damage to your other knives. Store them out of direct sun light in a place with stable room temperature. Be very careful to protect them from exposure to excessive heat as it is thought that heat may trigger outgassing. From all I've read the lighter colors tend to be more volitile. It is suspected that the dyes used in the darker colors may somehow help stabalize the chemical compound in celluloid.

Phil

[knifeswapper]

VacPac'ing does not help much, if any. I had the same idea; figured if no oxygen how could they oxidize. Best thing to do is put them in a display (the kind that the glass lid presses them into the foam to keep them in place). Keep a close eye on them and any that are going to give problems will start staining the glass in a silhouette of the knife. They will start slowly and when they get ready to go, you might as well just jerk the handles off before they eat thru the liners.

There are many that will never cause a problem. Some of the prettiest knives I've seen are 80 year old composites by Case, Remington, Winchester. These examples have never shrunk, gassed, curled, anything....

Main rule: Keep all composites separate until you have full faith in them.

[Willy]

I learned the hard way some Case Classics... the handles shrunk because of summer heat... I got rid of what I could and rehanded most everything else just because I hated looking at all the ruined knives... I swore never to buy any more celluloid.. ...

[OLD GAR]

Maybe this is the time to share then ask if any of youall can tell me about this PK. I guess this is what happens to the cellulose after the deterioration starts and isn't treated. This one belonged to a great uncle and I have no idea of the vintage and not sure of the manufacture. Looks like "WESTACO". ? Only the last 5 letters are readable so "WE" is a guess.

ps sorry about the poor quality of the photo. I need help on that too

[orvet]

Hey guys, here is a link to the website of the Oregon Knife Collectors Assoc, (OKCA).
The article is by Dennis Ellingsen and is probably the most information I have seen on celluloid in one place.
I have spoke to Dennis about the subject of celluloid and I think he has researched FAR more information than what he has in this article. He is definitely a consummate researcher.

http://www.oregonknifeclub.org/celluloid_02.html

Enjoy the article,
Dale