All About Pocket Knives

americanedgetech wrote:LOL... I saw Breaking Bad, and figured THAT looked like fun.

Not!
I am actually working on developing a Graphine based epoxy for use with carbon fiber. I have a hydrofoil sport boat design (similar to the International Moth series of boats) that I am developing, and my main focus is to reduce the amount of carbon fiber cloth/epoxy used, and increase the strength while reducing weight, and cost.
I mess around with that, and I make my own dietary supplements like Ginko extract, green tea extract, my own aspirin from Willow bark, Lots of things...
Sort of like "Juicing" but to the billionth degree

Here's a 3-d rendering of one of the hulls... The idea is similar to a wind surfer on foils.

americanedgetech wrote:Are those your vids?

I LOVE THEM! Those, and the microwave vids...
Sorry for sidetracking guys...

tongueriver wrote:

tjmurphy wrote:Knifers are not the only ones that have/had to deal with the deterioration of celluloid. It is/was not uncommon to pull great-grampa's old Gibson, or other maker's, guitars out of the closet or from under the bed where they had been stored for years in their cases and find that the binding around the guitar or mandolin had been destroyed, along with the finish. The tuner buttons were not exempt from deterioration either. Martin Guitar used to make their pickguards out of celluloid and after attachment to the guitar, the tops were finished with, I think, nitrocellulose. The pickguards would shrink to the point that it would lift and pull and cause what is referred to as the "B string crack". It is very uncommon to find a pre-1980 Martin without the crack. Just my 2-cents on the subject.

Some interesting comments there. I reckon there are still a coupla Martin boxes out there that will still bring a smile to my face. 'specially from this old boy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_YB9SC7AV4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEkVkJax2Co

knife7knut wrote: ↑Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:43 pm Read this post with interest and the comments and suggestions that ensued. I have posted several times in the past on this subject and for those who haven't read them I offer the following:

One of the biggest factors(in my opinion)in celluloid degradation has to be temperature. I base this on my experience with a similar material that has a tendency to degrade:vinyl and specifically vinyl used in automotive applications.I first noticed this when I bought a new Mustang GT in 1982. I had stopped smoking the year before and I began to notice that a film would appear on the inside of the windshield about every two to three weeks during the summertime. It would clean off reasonably easy only to re-appear in a few weeks.As the car was black(interior was red)and the windows usually up the temperature inside the vehicle was considerable.
I finally deduced that the vinyl covering on the dashboard was out-gassing and causing the film on the windshield. Attempting to arrest it through the use of various chemical preservatives was to no avail. Eventually the outgassing slows and stops but by that time the vinyl has dried to the point that it becomes extremely brittle and cracking commences.
Another factor in the degradation of celluloid I believe is the introduction of petroleum based products on the surfaces.On picture handled knives this is a death knell for any pictures on the undersides.The petroleum causes the image to gradually turn black and then disappear completely.
One of the strangest scenarios with celluloid handled knives is where one side completely disintegrates but the other side is completely unaffected.I have had several knives on which this has occurred and I cannot explain why.One was an Aerial coke bottle folder;another was a Novelty Cutlery Co.letter opener knife(both were picture handles);another was a Robeson swing guard and another a Camillus trapper(yellow cel)while still another was a KA-BAR folding hunter and a Buck Creek swing guard(cracked ice).
The Buck Creek was particularly insidious as the blade was corroding but the handles weren't showing any outward signs of deterioration. One day after cleaning it I pushed down on the lock and the entire back of the knife broke off! The out-gassing had completely eaten through the brass liners causing them to fail. The handles STILL showed no signs of deterioration.
Another one I bought just because it was so deteriorated was a small STA-SHARP pen that had completely broken in half(backspring included)but the stainless blades showed absolutely no signs of damage.
I wish I had an answer to the mystery of their deterioration and how to combat it;I would likely be a very rich man. Here are some pics of the ones I have.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 11:03 pm

knife7knut wrote: ↑Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:43 pm Read this post with interest and the comments and suggestions that ensued. I have posted several times in the past on this subject and for those who haven't read them I offer the following:

One of the biggest factors(in my opinion)in celluloid degradation has to be temperature. I base this on my experience with a similar material that has a tendency to degrade:vinyl and specifically vinyl used in automotive applications.I first noticed this when I bought a new Mustang GT in 1982. I had stopped smoking the year before and I began to notice that a film would appear on the inside of the windshield about every two to three weeks during the summertime. It would clean off reasonably easy only to re-appear in a few weeks.As the car was black(interior was red)and the windows usually up the temperature inside the vehicle was considerable.
I finally deduced that the vinyl covering on the dashboard was out-gassing and causing the film on the windshield. Attempting to arrest it through the use of various chemical preservatives was to no avail. Eventually the outgassing slows and stops but by that time the vinyl has dried to the point that it becomes extremely brittle and cracking commences.
Another factor in the degradation of celluloid I believe is the introduction of petroleum based products on the surfaces.On picture handled knives this is a death knell for any pictures on the undersides.The petroleum causes the image to gradually turn black and then disappear completely.
One of the strangest scenarios with celluloid handled knives is where one side completely disintegrates but the other side is completely unaffected.I have had several knives on which this has occurred and I cannot explain why.One was an Aerial coke bottle folder;another was a Novelty Cutlery Co.letter opener knife(both were picture handles);another was a Robeson swing guard and another a Camillus trapper(yellow cel)while still another was a KA-BAR folding hunter and a Buck Creek swing guard(cracked ice).
The Buck Creek was particularly insidious as the blade was corroding but the handles weren't showing any outward signs of deterioration. One day after cleaning it I pushed down on the lock and the entire back of the knife broke off! The out-gassing had completely eaten through the brass liners causing them to fail. The handles STILL showed no signs of deterioration.
Another one I bought just because it was so deteriorated was a small STA-SHARP pen that had completely broken in half(backspring included)but the stainless blades showed absolutely no signs of damage.
I wish I had an answer to the mystery of their deterioration and how to combat it;I would likely be a very rich man. Here are some pics of the ones I have.

Wow, lots of interesting reading in this old thread. I was searching thru old threads for more info on a knife I picked up last week, tangstamp is "N. C. Co. Canton O". Goins lists this as Novelty Cutlery Company, Canton Ohio and were famous for the picture knives they made with a process for making the handle material completely transparent. When I first saw this knife I realized that it must have had a picture under the handle material as the material was transparent. But what happened to the picture? The text above goes into how the picture can actually over time disappear. As you can see in my photos, you can still see thru the transparent handle material, there are two black lines on either end on both sides, but the picture has vanished. Very strange. I was able to slip a small piece of paper between the handle material and the brass liner to check if the transparency still was there, and it is but has yellowed somewhat. I don't believe that the knife has been apart, so the mystery remains, where did the picture go? Thanks to knife7knut for his observations on this subject, and my knife and photos seem to back this up.

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Quick Steel wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 12:25 am Is anyone familiar with this technique of celluloid preservation? Comments please.

"In Shirley Dunn’s book “Celluloid Collectibles” she recommends washing gently in warm or lukewarm water with a little pine solvent to clean Celluloid pieces. She also claims that Celluloid disease or Celluloid rot can be stopped by soaking the item in a solution of baking soda and water. She also suggests that it would probably be a good procedure to routinely wash Celluloid items in baking soda. Care of Celluloid using baking soda can also be used to remove spots on Celluloid pieces."

knife7knut wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 12:12 am The celluloid on your knife does not appear to be degrading.I base this on the fact that when this occurs the bolsters will usually have a brownish discoloration on them next to the handles. As to the deterioration of the pictures,I would attribute this to a couple of things.First if any petroleum substance(such as oil)has wicked onto them from oiling the joints this will tend to turn the images dark. Secondly the paper they were printed on likely contained acid that was incurred during production of the paper and helped along by exposure to sunlight.This very frequently happens with old photographs.
My suggestion would be to leave the knife as is and store it separately from other knives but not in an airtight container.A small dessicant bag inside wouldn't hurt either.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 3:19 am

I would tend to agree with you. The celluloid has not shrunk or cracked or shown other signs. Which means that the disappearing picture under the handle material is caused by a process other than outgassing. Do you think all of these picture knives have suffered this fate, or does someone still have a good one with a visible picture?