How solid are our solid Trolon grips?

[Wim Vangossum]

Hi everyone,


I was always under the impression that plastic materials where made for eternity in a way of speaking. But now, after reading an article in a scientific magazine, I'm scared to death.

It seems that many plastics simply deteriorate after many decades. Pieces of art made during the 50's already cause problems to museums to keep them in good shape! There are 4 main groups that are vulnerable for deterioration:

PVC, polyurethaan, cellluloseacetaat and cellulosenitraat (this are the dutch names, I hope they are a bit the same in, English)

I believe Thomas Wittmann was the first who wrote that the solid grips of Army, KM and 2nd Modell luftwaffe daggers were made from an early plastic called 'Trolon' before that time they always spoke about celluloid as a grip material.

Trolon was developed by the Rheinisch- Westfälischen Sprengstoffen Fabriken 'RWS' They made a variety of plastics all with the prefix "Tro": Trolit F, Trolit W, Trolon, Trolitan and Trolitul.

Trolon is determinated as based on phenolresin. So my big question is, is phenolresin also vulnerable for deterioration???

The article in the scientific magazine further mention that also turtle imitation plastic is a product that age in a bad way.

Now, before I panic too much I must admit that there is not much to see on the dagger grips in my own collection if I compare that with the stories of some museums. For example they say that the suits made for the Apolo landing on the moon suffer from all kind of deterioration, and the same counts for art work made by Andy Warhol from acrylic paint etc...


Regards, Wim

[Frogprince]

Hi everyone,


I was always under the impression that plastic materials where made for eternity in a way of speaking. But now, after reading an article in a scientific magazine, I'm scared to death.

It seems that many plastics simply deteriorate after many decades. Pieces of art made during the 50's already cause problems to museums to keep them in good shape! There are 4 main groups that are vulnerable for deterioration:

PVC, polyurethaan, cellluloseacetaat and cellulosenitraat (this are the dutch names, I hope they are a bit the same in, English)

I believe Thomas Wittmann was the first who wrote that the solid grips of Army, KM and 2nd Modell luftwaffe daggers were made from an early plastic called 'Trolon' before that time they always spoke about celluloid as a grip material.

Trolon was developed by the Rheinisch- Westfälischen Sprengstoffen Fabriken 'RWS' They made a variety of plastics all with the prefix "Tro": Trolit F, Trolit W, Trolon, Trolitan and Trolitul.

Trolon is determinated as based on phenolresin. So my big question is, is phenolresin also vulnerable for deterioration???

The article in the scientific magazine further mention that also turtle imitation plastic is a product that age in a bad way.

Now, before I panic too much I must admit that there is not much to see on the dagger grips in my own collection if I compare that with the stories of some museums. For example they say that the suits made for the Apolo landing on the moon suffer from all kind of deterioration, and the same counts for art work made by Andy Warhol from acrylic paint etc...


Regards, Wim

Wim, Period Trolon was a cast phenolic resin form of Bakelite that was manufactured by the Dynamit Nobel AG firm at Troisdorf, Germany (they also made other types of plastics). Marketed by other firms with different names, offhand I don't remember an RWS connection. The conventional molded forms of Bakelite plastic such as pistol, bayonet etc. grips in an ordinary protected setting will probably outlast us all. But the cast form of the resin has problems that was even known at the time with especially the lighter colors. So the first rule is to keep it away from sunlight (UV) which is what changes white grips to to yellow, deep orange etc. And stresses like over-tightening grips. I hope this helps and have more specific information if needed. Fred

[Bulldog]

So the first rule is to keep it away from sunlight (UV) which is what changes white grips to to yellow, deep orange etc. And stresses like over-tightening grips. I hope this helps and have more specific information if needed. Fred[/QUOTE]

Hi Fred, do you have any idea how the grip colour under the pommel and ferule change colour from white to yellow/orange when these areas are concealed from light and all the other elements, all my coloured grips are coloured in these areas. Out of curiosity I filed a small area of an orange grip behind the ferule and underneath it is white, so how did it change colour ?

[Frogprince]

Also made in other countries by firms such as Catalin Ltd. Great Britain, the cast phenolic resins were made in relatively small individual batches with no two exactly identical, followed by a curing progress that did not always have even results. With one of the tests for different formulations involving enhanced artificial exposure to ultralight light that had about a 90% failure rate if I remember the data correctly. With the point being the process used at the time had a lot of variability from batch to batch. With the degradation over time caused by multiple factors, with UV light the primary culprit - which really only applies to the exterior. Because when a grip is broken the interior is still white, but is not going to stay that way as can be seen with the shading (from different length of exposure times) in the examples posted. Fred

[Wim Vangossum]

It's good to read that Trolon is a phenolic resin, completely different made then the other types of plastics that are known for decomposition after years.

The price list from the Eickhorn Kundendienst also speaks only of White Trolon replacemend grips, so all the dramatic color changes costed by sunlight must be true. Sometimes unbelievable when you look at a deep burgundy red dagger grip.


Regards, Wim

[Bulldog]

Still don't know how a finished cured white grip seen in period film and photos as being white can change colour on the concealed areas underneath the pommel and behind the ferule.

[Wim Vangossum]

Still don't know how a finished cured white grip seen in period film and photos as being white can change colour on the concealed areas underneath the pommel and behind the ferule.

Yes, that's a very good question.

[Frogprince]

I wrote a more in depth article about 10-12 (?) years ago for a (U.S.) collector publication that I can’t find at the moment, so this may or may not help. It had some little known facts like it was chemical giant I.G. Farbinindustrie AG. that supplied the cellulose acetate to Dynamit (Nobel), Troisdorf for processing by them which was then marketed as a molding powder with the name of Trolit etc. I also may have some pictures of daggers that were wall mounted that have a dark and light side grip with the dark side facing out, and light and dark gips with the lighter portion being the part that was covered by a knot. So there is no question I think that light is a factor, but it’s only skin deep (the surface).

As least complicated as I can make it: The phenolic casting resins which were at first clear had more formaldehyde than the molded types, and a moisture content that affected its appearance depending on the particle size, as well as artificial dyes. That tend to decompose at the surface with age and exposure into not just color changes, but in more extreme cases localized spots and spotting because of instability. So the Germans worked on developing alternative materials for those applications where a light or white color was needed - that was short lived for the daggers with the all chemical based handles. Fred

[Wim Vangossum]

I once had a Wingen 2nd model Luftwaffe with a white grip and that one had some brown spottings on the surface.