Your favorite Celluloid:)!!!!

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Jul 24, 2001
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One of the things that saddens me most when I look through my collection is the lack of celluloid. I love the stuff:), but I 've personally banned myself from buying it simply because I can't stand to watch it break down.

My favorite's were:

1) Candy Stripe - I love the red and mustard combination. I personally believe it work's well with any style of knife:).

2) Yellow Cell. - Ruggedly handsome sum's up this stuff. If you ever dropped your knife into tall grass, you can see that it's a great idea also:). It alway bothers me that colors are not used on more handles, I guess it's not tactical enough:-(.

3) Faux Pearl/Cracked ice - I've got to admit, on some patterns it's kinda garish, but sometimes it just plain works:).

4) Spider web - I've only seen it once, but it's beautiful stuff:). It's an asymetrical silver grid interspaced with slick black.


What's some of your favorite celluloid:D:).
 
I've just ordered a Kinfolk Blue Wine Copper celluloid Bulldog from Cutters and Collectors.
I'll be glad to post an opinion when I receive the knife.

El Lobo
 
Faux tortoise shell is my favorite.
 
End of Day is pretty cool. I have tried to take a few photos of my celluloid scaled knives but they don't seem to want to show up like your eye sees them.
Greg
 
Here is a Fight'n Rooster Stockman with End of Day scales. You can count on no 2 being alike.
Greg
 
Another Fight'n Rooster with Bumble Bee scales. I don't find this particular one gaudy at all.
Greg
 
Originally posted by mckgreg
Another Fight'n Rooster with Bumble Bee scales. I don't find this particular one gaudy at all.
Greg

That Cell. is really neat, sort of a yellow Candy Stripe.
 
Like a good tortoiseshell and the candy stripe.Seen a pattern called Gold flake which looked really cool, kind of retro looking.
How old does celluloid get before it starts to break down and is there anything you can do to prevent/slow it?
 
Hi Doc,

THat's Goldstone Cell. It's really pretty on doctors knives.

As to when Celluloid breaks down, well that's a crap shoot. Sometime's it keeps for a ton of time, other times it seems to break down before your eyes.

Here's some tips I can offer though:):

1) The dark colors seem to keep longer.

2) Lighter colors seem to be the worst, These's some clearish cell. that break's down horribly.

3) Store them in a relativly dark, open space. The stuff gives off fumes that will rust stuff badly.

4) Watch the handles around oil, it's said to be harmful to it.

5) Keep it away from flames:D, etc.... Old Celluloid storage shed's had non-attacted roof's, incase the place went up.



HTH:D:).
 
It seems that certain colors of celluloid tend to break down faster than others. I have read where the darker ones are likely to go first. In my experience, it is the color. Such as the older Tortoise Shell was a real problem. They would go from the beautiful browns to a green. It seems to me that celluloid with a lot of orange would shrink most but not deteriorate. The newer stuff that is a makeup of polymeres doesn't seem to break down. It is the same stuff that eyeglasses and such are made of. The older stuff,celluloid,which is what movie film was made of, is a different story. I have quite of few that show no signs of shrinkage or deterioration at all, but I don't trust them. I have been told, by some of the oldtimers, to keep them seperate and leave them open to air. Like in a sack-up laid flat on a closet shelf. Some of the stuff goes to hell and some don't. I wouldn't worry too much about the new stuff out but I still would keep it seperate just to be safe.
Greg
 
My favorite would have to be the Old Marble found on the 1st generation Bulldogs.
 
Bob's tips are excellent!
Here are some examples. Looks like the possibilities are endless.
 

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Nice ones Bastid!! I wish I knew how to make multiple posts instead of adding a page at a time. Anyway, here is a Blue Stripe.
 
Good thread here Bob. It got me to go thru some knives that I haven't looked at in a while. Here is a Goldstone.
 
What a great thread!
I've always wanted a candy stripe coke bottle hunter and matching toothpick.
Cracked Ice and Duck Feather are really nice too
This toothpick is 'Broken Chain'
tpk.jpg

Keep 'em coming
:D
 
I like the tortoise shell too, and carry a Camillus Trapper with tortoise shell scales quite a bit.

You are right about it breaking down, though. I have an old Scrade-Walden Trapper that has huge sentimental value to me, but the scales are just disentigrating. It's terrible. It is the old yellow celluloid, by the way.
 
Originally posted by Coonskinner
I have an old Scrade-Walden Trapper that has huge sentimental value to me, but the scales are just disentigrating. It's terrible. It is the old yellow celluloid, by the way.

:(. I once had a straight razor with mottled yellow cell. I left it for a while, and boy did it change over something awful. By the time I found it, one of the scales looked like a nasty old(all be it, giant) toenail:D:).

Here's a pic of Glitter Stripe: www.bvbranchknives.com/cc/image156.jpg - you can also see a great Balloon Whittler in Bastid's post:).

I once had a girlfriend who loved a toothpick I had scaled it the stuff(I can see a new marketing ploy now: "Glitter Stripe, the chick's dig it':)).
 
This one is a little bit..................well, you tell me. I'm not all that sure!
Greg
 
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