old plastic polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride I just googled it. looks like it is still being made.
FYI most plastics are either: Thermoplastic - becomes pliable when heated - most commom plastic used today Thermosetting- - becomes solid when heated - still used in specific industries Bakelite - named after inventor - is a formaldehyde based resin that was poured into a mold and heated to make it solidify. Still used for electrical parts.
What is Bakelite? Short answer, Great Shit! It is resistant to most any solvent (I don't know of anything that it is susceptible to, but there's gotta be something out there), tough, dimensionally stable, easily machinable, does not conduct electricity and is a poor heat conductor. BTW, it is the stuff circuit boards are made of. Bill
I would have to say yes.. I know it is used in some aircraft applications..looks a bit different than the old days stuff but its still bakelite. just installed an insulator cover for a remote electrical "ground power service" receptical in an 08 cessna 182..and it sure looked like and acted like bakelite to me.
Yes, it is still available from McMaster-Carr under the name Garolite. I guess Bakelite is a trademark. Here is the McMaster-Carr link. http://www.mcmaster.com/#garolite-sheets/=5owpym Good luck deciding which formulation you want! Bill
Heaps of old radio cabinets were made of it. A lot of older english cars had bakelite dash panels. eg prefect etc. See here. This is an old '49 or so bakerlite ford prefect dash. .
Lionel Trains used bakelite as their plastic on all pre WWII trains, even the Madison style heavyweight coaches were bakelite. Usually it was a very very dark brown or black in color, and while very durable, it will DISSOVLE if you dunk it in a vat of carb kleaner like napa sells in 5 gallon pails....ask me how i know???
I've read on the HAMB that the WW2 British Spitfire fighter seats were made of Bakelite. Wouldn't THAT be a cool seat to run in a Hot Rod!!!
The Garolite seems to be resin/cloth layered. I want to use bakelite to machine some knobs and switches,so I am not sure if that would work.
That is a beautiful dash. I want to machine an inlay of bakelite with some knobs and switches in my dash.
I don't think bakelite has fiberglass cords in it, it is what OLD distributor caps were made of. Garolite and phenolic both have fiber in them. Garolite is what circuit boards are made of.
It can be repaired with methylmethacrylate. I make dentures and have repaired it the same way I repair dental appliances. It's not a strong repair, but it works for non-stressed parts like knobs and toys. Always use proper breathers/masks/evacuation stuff when grinding plastic. OSHA says so.
very early bakelite involved phenol, later formaldahyde. no soybeans, and it does not get brittle with age (celluloid does, however, which pre-dates bakelite). I've read that Henry Ford was trying to come up with a soybean based plastic and wanted to produce cars with plastic bodies as he was passionate about helping the American farmer. Apparently that didn't work out for him.
I have been in the vintage cloting and accessory business for 25 years, I have a lot of bakelite I have saved from cabinet handles and would like to know if I can cut this with power tools and a make some jewelry or knob items. I would wear a mask or resperator. Can it be cut? Hope so the stuff is so beautiful. I have secured my wife a great jewelry collection over the years, that stuff is way pricy these days!! Thanx for any info available. ~Sololobo~
I used to work for an antique telephone refurbishing shop and a lot of early "plastic" phones were made from bakelite. Drills and cuts easy. Sometimes we had to use 2 phones to make one and use an epoxy resin to join the halves together, sand smooth, and repaint with a black laquer. We also used 3m spot putty to fill any voids or reshaping. If the phone was in decent enough shape we just buffed it out - working our way up through the grits on a pedestal buffer. Using the right buffs for each grit. Shine right up to a glossy, like-new shine.
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