Indestructible Celluloid fire and 100 year old Mold Danger?

[HisMastersVoice]

BA cylinders are actually pretty flammable, but they need a direct ignition source.

This was at Union last year, and don't worry, it already had a crack in it.

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxwIKgIr1ps[/youtubehd]

[NEFaurora]

That Blue Amberol burned way,way hotter than I expected it to. If you look after the burning, There is nothing left of the Blue Amberol. I wonder if an indestructible will burn just as fast.... Hmmmm. Have to try that one. Great videos!!

I think the fire risk danger is obvious. Definately not OSHA compliant..lol.. An MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) should be included with the sale of each original Blue Amberol...lol..

It certainly does add "FIRE" to the flame does'n it..

I guess as the above poster said that it probably has to be exposed to a direct flame in order to ignite... then watchout..

Tony K.

[VintageTechnologies]

I burned a strip of Blue Amberol celluloid decades ago out of the same concerns people have today. It did not burn as fast as a I would expect nitrate film to burn. I know my test was subjective, but I was not particularly impressed.

If you want to obsess about killer "bugs", then don't collect antique books! There is no telling what surprise is lodged between those pages. However, I have books that are several centuries old and single pages that date back to the early 1300's, and I haven't died of the plague yet! Excuse me now whilst I go lay down, I haven't been feeling so well today since thumbing through the most recent incunable that I bought on eBay....

[nthamann]

There's a gentleman in Cincinnati, OH who owns a small warehouse building with no fire suppression system in it. He has hundreds of thousands of records in storage there, and the fire department is forcing him to either pay to have a fire suppression system installed, or get rid of the records (he has nowhere else to store them safely). The fire department is doing that completely on the basis of the flammability of the records.

[edisonphonoworks]

I know from great experience that cylinder wax, has a flashpoint and will burn with a blue flame. I onetime had flaming cylinder wax on my hand that caused third degree burns, and I could not make cylinders for a very long time. I have caught some batches on fire on several occasions, and the only way to put it out is to cover the container, and weight it, the smoke will starve the oxygen so the fire won't burn, do not take the cover off for at least an hour until the wax has cooled, as soon as oxygen gets too it, woof, it is on fire again. Making good wax, requires a great risk, making phono wax, the mass for a long time has a lot of water in it, and stays at the boiling point of water, 212 degrees, and then as soon as all the water is driven off, shoots up in temperature to the flash point (somewhere about 600 degrees) and this change happens almost instantly when the last molecule of water is driven off. I have used batches of wax that have caught on fire, and they make some of the quietest and best blanks. You can't make good phonowax mass inside, it must be made outside, away from combustables, and you need all the ventilation, it has caustic vapors, as well as when it is finished a very acrid, penitrating blue smoke, that will cause you to coughf and gag if you get in the smoke. Maybe someday I will make a film of this. Cylinder wax is like the opposite of a candle, it has more hardener than wax, so a little bit will burn for a very long time. I have made over 3000 lbs of Aylsworth , brown wax over 12 years. I know his is s pittance compared to even early blank formula production from May of 1890-December of 1893 about 250,000 lbs of phono wax were produced by Edison.

[mrphonograph]

I know from great experience that cylinder wax, has a flashpoint and will burn with a blue flame. I onetime had flaming cylinder wax on my hand that caused third degree burns, and I could not make cylinders for a very long time. I have caught some batches on fire on several occasions, and the only way to put it out is to cover the container, and weight it, the smoke will starve the oxygen so the fire won't burn, do not take the cover off for at least an hour until the wax has cooled, as soon as oxygen gets too it, woof, it is on fire again. Making good wax, requires a great risk, making phono wax, the mass for a long time has a lot of water in it, and stays at the boiling point of water, 212 degrees, and then as soon as all the water is driven off, shoots up in temperature to the flash point (somewhere about 600 degrees) and this change happens almost instantly when the last molecule of water is driven off. I have used batches of wax that have caught on fire, and they make some of the quietest and best blanks. You can't make good phonowax mass inside, it must be made outside, away from combustables, and you need all the ventilation, it has caustic vapors, as well as when it is finished a very acrid, penitrating blue smoke, that will cause you to coughf and gag if you get in the smoke. Maybe someday I will make a film of this. Cylinder wax is like the opposite of a candle, it has more hardener than wax, so a little bit will burn for a very long time. I have made over 3000 lbs of Aylsworth , brown wax over 12 years. I know his is s pittance compared to even early blank formula production from May of 1890-December of 1893 about 250,000 lbs of phono wax were produced by Edison.

well borri don't you just love that smell! after 2 days you can still smell it and afcourse where talking about a outside situation!!!

[edisonphonoworks]

Yes,it is a very strong odor and lingers with you, your cloths smell of it after making a batch. The season starts in January and I have already made almost 180 blanks!!!

[Chuck]

.

[Edisone]

Note that the burning Blue Amberol obviously had its plaster removed, first. I once had a culluloid-covered badge from an Edison convention, circa maybe 1910. It was sitting on a table, and I set a lighter down next to it thinking that the flame was out. The flame was not out - the lighter touched-off an explosive POOF of celluloid, and my Edison badge became a black cinder with a pin back!

If the celluloid vs steel effect is true, that would explain why so many Indestructibles have rusty steel rims, sometimes so bad that they must be sanded before they'll fit on a mandrel. Swollen cardboard is another Indestructible nuisance. Then we've got the "Everlasting" celluloid sheets which simply POP at the seam & your record is gone - I have (well, had) several of those.