Bakelite. I love the stuff. Where you get it?

I have googled and searched and know "Bakelite is a synthetic resin chemically formulated and named after its Belgian inventor, Chemist L.H.Baekeland c.1909. It is pronounced "Bay Ka Lite". Originally it was used for molding items that were previously done of celluloid or hard rubber. One of the original uses was for pool balls."

stuff like that...I want knobs and other and hate to drill/tap the real pieces. Anyone on here doing this that is really close to looking the same?

 

Good question....

 

This old canso/pby wreck is very near my home, I have made the hike several times and studied it for hours looking at all the small details, most electrical connection blocks are made of an awesome bakelite style material that appears as it came in blocks that where then milled. Maybe look towards some vintage aircraft sites, I've taken lots of pics but unfortunatley can't find one of the electrical blocks. v

 

sorry to jack the thread, but is that a radial engine on the ground behind the wreckage?

 

For those looking for this type of material try Corrian or Micarta both are easy to get modern synthetics that can be machined like metal but with wood tools. Both come in many different colors and some imitate natural materials like Ivory or wood grains

 

Thanks!!! dropped into a local countertop makers shop and picked up scrapes of Corian and other for nothing.

Like you guys up North have aircraft laying around in the woods? Cool!

 

injectedA,

Do a Google search for "phenolic board". It's available in many sizes and configurations from plastic supply houses. Back when I was in the specialty printing business we used phenolic board as an underlay to hot foil stamp against.

Hope this helps,
CyberWalt

 

Injected,
This is machineable. And if you get it in black, can look and feel like bakelite (but much stronger and long term stable).

www.alumilite.com

 

Another material thought: check out the scrap section of the junkyard, and look in old fuse boxes and big switch boxes from industrial machinery. These frequently contain big junction blocks made of something at least similar to Bakelite.

 

That's if your local junkyard is out of PBY's, of course...

 

There is always some on Ebay. Old Mah Jong (spelling?) sets were made out of bakelite and are usually in bright colors. Old radio cabinets, kitchen cabinet pulls & stuff like that. If you check Ebay & antique shows you can usually find it pretty cheap.

 

Like this..
http://cgi.ebay.com/Batch-Cut-Bakelite-Catalin-Mah-Jong-Racks-4-Crafts_W0QQitemZ290069609338QQihZ019QQcategoryZ502QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I think Bakelite is a tradename for phenolic. Bakelite by itself is kind of brittle. They used to use it a lot for things that got hot like plastic handles on toasters or waffle irons. And old radios had lots of it for tube sockets, connectors, etc. It holds up well to heat and it's a good insulator. A lot of those old black connector wiring blocks used to be made of phenolic. Now they seem to use more nylon for stuff like that.

It's still pretty easy to buy fabric (linen or glass) reinforced phenolic. It's machinable. The dust and fumes when you machine it are toxic so a lot of machine shops don't like to mess with it -- especially if it needs to be machined dry. I've made a bunch of stuff out of it for where I work, usually high voltage insulators that have to be able to stand up to high temperatures, oil, etc. Most of the stuff I've seen is either black or brown. I buy it in sheet or rod from surplus places. It used to be something really common to find, but not so easy to find anymore lately.

McMaster-Carr sells some stuff called "Garolite" which is something similar to it. I haven't worked with it myself yet though. It comes in sheet, rods, or tubes.

The local steel yard has bins full of surplus hunks of linen reinforced phenolic. They just sell it by the pound.

If you machine it, use cutting oil. It doesn't need the oil, but the oil helps keep the dust down. The dust is toxic and it stinks like hell when you cut it -- I think it's some sort of formaldehyde fumes or something.

 

From wikipedia....

Bakelite is a brand named material based on the thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, developed in 1907–1909 by Dr. Leo Baekeland. Formed by the reaction under heat and pressure of phenol and formaldehyde, generally with a wood flour filler

 

This jewelry site might be of interest because it gives several simple tests, all but one involving the phenol smell, for identifying bakelite from other plastics:
http://www.worldint.com/science/bakelite.html

 

I think we should start calling it by its real name: polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride. Kinda rolls off the tongue don't it?

 

Sounds beautiful! Good name for a parrot. You can teach it to say "Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride wants a cracker".

 

that phenolic junk is also used to make those insulators that go between the carb and manifold dont know why they cost a hundred bucks

if you want to make dash knobs there was a tech on here about making em out of plexiglas and glueing it together with different colors to make fancy.

 

The stuff most likely is a phenolic material like micarta. Saw that alot in the electrical areas of electronics systems in items built by a contractor for Navy aircraft.

 

InjectedA, if you still need phenolic McMaster Carr sells it in bars and sheets. It's not real expensive.