Buck Creek Handle Question

F

freekboi

Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
354
Hey guys, after reading through some of the archives I've noticed that some people said that the yellow handled Buck Creek knives are handled in celluloid. I was just wondering if there was any way to tell for sure what the handle material is (short of waiting for it to deteriorate or putting a red hot needle to it). I want to try and find out so that if it is celluloid I can quickly remove it from the rest of the collection before it does start to out gas. Thanks.

Here's a pic of a few of the knives if it helps:

Stockman02.jpg
 
Thanks TLC, that's what I was afraid of. Well, time to go move them to another spot before they decide to spontaneously deteriorate. Thanks again.
 
While there's good reason to be cautious, a celluloid knife handle is not absolutely doomed to deterioration. Some celluloid breaks down almost immediately, while some celluloid knives remain mint after many decades.

Have you heard that there's a problem with the celluloid used on those particular knives or that particular brand?

-Bob
 
Bob, haven't heard anything bad about these particular brand, but they're getting up there in years, they belonged to my dad and he had them for as long as I can remember, and probably before that, so I'm wanting to seperate them out in case they do start to eventually deteriorate.
 
I have had a couple of recent Queen Classics very limited number that have not done well in the celluloid area..:( I am trying to filter out any and all celluloids in my collection because of this problem...

Regards,

Sunburst
 
I doubt if that handle material is the same type of celluloid used on early knives. Use of cellulose nitrate based celluloid was pretty much phased out in the 50s in favor of more stable thermoplasics. Buck Creek didn't come along until the 1970s, so unless they had discovered some old stock it isn't real likely. Even then, given the known properties of celluloid, using old stock wouldn't have been a real good idea when better material was easily available.
Cellulose nitrate celluloids don't always just spontaneously start to decompose. Usually there is a trigger. Mostly its is one of three things- exposure to some sort of petroleum or petroleum-based solvent product like oil or gas, longterm exposure to sunlight, and being near another piece of celluloid thats already breaking down and releasing gas. Keep them stored in a nice dry dark place and you will minimize the chance of a breakdown.
 
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