abalone storage

[bocaj]

OK, I was cleaning and inspecting my knives in storage ( I get paranoid !!) They have been all stored in exactly the same case under exact temp and humidity not next to a plastic handle knife, and exact mft wrapper and boxes.
So everything is going great until I get to an abalone handle Case classic from 1990... these blades had a fine 'frost' of rust.. nearly had a heart attack ! Buffed it up and talked to a friend , he was smarter than me, not too tough, and said call Case !! I talked to a great lady in charge of PR and Cust service and she had no specific info re storage of this handle material. Yes , I use Renaisance wax on all my knives. So she said chalk it up to poor luck. I did and over the next week I went through the rest of the knives.. same process , same routine waxing and wiping. Then I got to a second Case 1990 abalone a small body whittler that I had forgotten about . I opened it up and the thing is covered with a fine 'frost ' of rust where the blades are exposed above the scales...%##^%#@^&^&** ././ what the heck is up????
Please check your abalone knives or tell me what I am doing wrong ... Thanks to all !!!

[jerryd6818]

Post pictures for verification because this is what I believe is happening.

That's not real Abalone. The handles on those knives are Celluloid and are outgassing. The Celluloid is breaking down and producing an acidic gas which will destroy the knives. Remove them from the proximity of other knives and remove the handles from the frames.

[hardman]

My first thought was that you actually have a celluloid handled knife that was made to look like abalone. I see jerryd6818 feels the same way. If they are Case knives from 1990, they should have a pattern number that begins with an "8" if they came from the factory with genuine abalone. What are the pattern numbers on the two Case knives that exhibit the problem?

[peanut740]

It won't do you any could to call Case if it had abalone swirl celluloid on it,they didn't make it Queen did for Blue Grass.

[BIGHEAD]

Pnut hit the nail on the head not made BY Case. If it is a Classic it came from Blugrass cutlery. Also it may be real Abalone but The Classics Are CV steel and not Stainless so Humidity itself will rust the blades.

[knife7knut]

Pnut hit the nail on the head not made BY Case. If it is a Classic it came from Blugrass cutlery. Also it may be real Abalone but The Classics Are CV steel and not Stainless so Humidity itself will rust the blades.

From what was described it definitely sounds like celluloid out-gassing. Real abalone is a shell and the only real danger I know about it is if you grind it the dust is extremely toxic. Supposedly the beautiful green color in it is arsenic.
Humidity will definitely rust blades but they will rust uniformly and not just where they are exposed like celluloid does.

[bocaj]

Thanks to all of you... I should have discussed with you guys back in the 90 s !!!!
Yes the patern # begins with 8 but I am very disappointed to learn my CASE knives could have been produced by someone else .... I really don't know what else to say... thanks to all.

[Classic Case]

If the knife begins with an 8, I would think it is not a Case Classic. Case Classic designation for celluloid was 7.I think a photo would help much with identification.

[BIGHEAD]

If the knife begins with an 8, I would think it is not a Case Classic. Case Classic designation for celluloid was 7.I think a photo would help much with identification.

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