Cell Rot is killing my Tiger

[M14Shooter]

Went to shave with my Tiger 49 this morning .She was in storage in a silicone sleeve.Cell rot has started to eat my poor Tiger .I pulled the scales off and put them in the trash .Was able to save the silver Tiger inlay.I coated the blade with breakfree oil and will sand and hone the blade this weekend .Not sure if blade can be saved.After honing I will know .The good news is that no other straight in storage was harmed.The outbreak was luckily contained to one blade .I think the silicone sleeve saved the other razor during the early stages of the cell rot outbreak.Not happy about the Tiger damage but am thankful that my other babies were not harmed .

 

[6Cuda6]

Dang that sucks!!!

 

[Polarbeard]

Too bad

 

[M14Shooter]

I might be able to restore the blade to a usable state .Will not know until I hone her a see how stable the edge is .I fear the edge may have too much compromised steel .Even if I can save her being a hollow ground I will not be able to remove all the cell rot scars .She will be damaged forever but I will still try to save this endangered Tiger .

 

[totorlekiller]

I had a Leopard razor whose scale looked perfectly preserved that did that to me.
The first time, I did not believe it was cell rot as the plastic looked really fine, so I just cleaned up the corrosion and rehoned.
It came back and I cleaned it again, rescaled it and rehoned it. No permanent damage was done in my case and it still shaves great.
The corrosion on yours looks still pretty superficial and easy to clean up. I don't think you'll have any problem restoring the edge.

 

[stone and strop]

That style of Celluloid scales are the worst for cell rot.
I have removed 2 pair before they took their toll on nice razors. Its usually the yellow in the scales that the rot seems to concentrate at.
Black does not seem as prone to it.

 

[Kooldecker]

hi fellas, im very new here and i have to ask. what is cell rot? if there is a previous thread out there that would save your fingers please direct me to it. it sounds very bad and like something i want to avoid! thanks as always

 

[M14Shooter]

Cell Rot is when Vintage Celluloid scales release corrosive gases that will destroy steel.

 

[Clay S]

Went to shave with my Tiger 49 this morning .She was in storage in a silicone sleeve.Cell rot has started to eat my poor Tiger .I pulled the scales off and put them in the trash .Was able to save the silver Tiger inlay.I coated the blade with breakfree oil and will sand and hone the blade this weekend .Not sure if blade can be saved.After honing I will know .The good news is that no other straight in storage was harmed.The outbreak was luckily contained to one blade .I think the silicone sleeve saved the other razor during the early stages of the cell rot outbreak.Not happy about the Tiger damage but am thankful that my other babies were not harmed .

View attachment 946382

Sorry to hear about it.

Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger"
It's the sty of the tiger
it's the ill of the rot
Dying, it's the end of it's survival

 

[EL Alamein]

Had the very same issue with my very first blade an Eicker & Sohn straight. It had synthetic tortoise scales like yours.

Also had it on a few other razors I purchased a decade or so ago all with fake tortoise scales.

Something about some of those vintage tortoise scales that make them degrade and cause the rot. Best to avoid them.

Chris