All About Pocket Knives

Hey fellas I went to clean and oil my knives this past weekend and found one of my case classics whittlers in a candy stripe cell starting to pit and a little rust. is this the start of the cell gassing out? what to do next? i clean and oil my knives about every six months should i do it more often? or does that make a differnce with cell handles. thanks for any help. I would hate to lose the knife but what can ya do for cells besides keep them seperated from all the others? thanks for any info.

It sure sounds like cell deterioration, johnnyt00! If you want to keep it as is you can try displaying it in the open air, not in the sun though. If you put it in the box, the fumes gather and eat everything. I think rehandling is inevitable, and doing it sooner avoids a lot of hassle. Try Muskrat Man, or OUPA.
Too bad. I won't be buying any cell-handled knives less than 40 years old anymore, although that's no guarantee either!

upnorth wrote:It sure sounds like cell deterioration, johnnyt00! If you want to keep it as is you can try displaying it in the open air, not in the sun though. If you put it in the box, the fumes gather and eat everything. I think rehandling is inevitable, and doing it sooner avoids a lot of hassle. Try Muskrat Man, or OUPA.
Too bad. I won't be buying any cell-handled knives less than 40 years old anymore, although that's no guarantee either!

I agree it sounds like cell deterioration. The first signs are usually some discoloration on the bolster near the handle and some shrinkage of the celluloids. If I see some discoloration on the bolster, I won't mess around, I'll just change the handle. No one knows for sure why some celluloids self destruct in 10 years and others are fine at 60 years of age. Different from one batch to the next even by the same maker.

K&G sells Tortoise and Abalone celluloid sheet and there is a warning. Made of celluloid nitrate so it must be worked slowly. What this tells me is that heat is harmful to celluloid and use a new belt as well.

So, no matter what you do, if it was subjected to excess heat at the factory, it's going to degrade and who knows when.

I have 4 on my bench that will get pearl (celluloid is gone already), but it will be some time before I have a chance to get to them.

If you know it to be celluloid outgassing, figure on getting it done as soon as possible.

Petroleum based oils are a prime suspect when handles start to decay. Oil apparently acts as a solvent to start the process going, and once it starts its only a matter of time. Sunlight is bad for celluloid too, as is heat, enclosure in close proximity to other celluliod products that may be out-gassing, and any number of other things. Storing them in a cool dark place before they start to decay is the best bet for preservation.

As to the heat generated by working on a belt, if you get too aggressive it won't just decay, it'll catch fire and burn right up.

arathol wrote:Petroleum based oils are a prime suspect when handles start to decay. Oil apparently acts as a solvent to start the process going, and once it starts its only a matter of time.

One that I believe is overlooked far to often, especially when cleaning knives. Thanks for bringing that one up, I had forgotten to add it.

arathol wrote: As to the heat generated by working on a belt, if you get too aggressive it won't just decay, it'll catch fire and burn right up.

And it's hard to put out. Don't ask how I know. OK, I just had to see if it could be done, yes and the smoke is toxic come to find out. New belt work slow.

Seriously though arathol is 100% correct. Celluloid is a flammable.

Johnnyt00, I first bought an Eye Brand sodbuster in celluloid because I didn't know about it.
When I found out about it soon after, I kicked myself, swore never to buy another celluloid knife, and couldn't figure out WHY companies still produced knives in celluloid and HOW there could still be a market for it, inspite of all its disadvantages.
Well, I finally got my answer.
I JUST BOUGHT ANOTHER CELLULOID KNIFE, in candy stripe. This time I did it with full knowledge of ALL the pitfalls. Can you believe it?
I just could not resist it.
It's a Boker stockman so I'll be using it to death and hope the knife wears out before the celluloid.
I'll post a picture when it arrives.

BTW, why did you buy celluloid?

thanks guys for the input. will probably go ahead with a rehandle job. thanks again. I always try to talk myself out of buying a cell, but some of them are just so darn purdy

Johnny that " just so darn Purdy" is also how some folks wind up with those troublesome Ferraris & Maseratis (plus more I'm sure) !!