POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

Yes, bakelite is "fragile" but so long as you are aware of that, it can be worked.... carefully and slowly.
 
ChazzC said:
Just watch the dust, it’s hazardous.
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Much like certain other materials, cast-iron included!

With bakelite, I would be wearing a proper full face mask and having a hoover running to contain swarf and particulates, just as with cast-iron.
 
Bakelite is a thermoset plastic made from phenol and formaldehyde which is molded and hardened under heat and pressure. After curing, it is unaffected by heat (within reason) and that's why it was used for electrical bits and lamps--it won't melt under high heat and it maintains its high dialectric strength. But it behaves like a ceramic and will shatter before it yields. Machining it is like sorta like machining a ceramic coffee cup.

Rather than drilling holes, the maker usually molds the hole except for one thin wall so that the steel cope and drag don't have to touch. Those thin walls can be broken out, but and attempting to drill them has about the same effect as breaking them out with a punch.

Rick "no stranger to shattered bakelite" Denney
 
rwdenney said:
Bakelite is a thermoset plastic made from phenol and formaldehyde which is molded and hardened under heat and pressure. After curing, it is unaffected by heat (within reason) and that's why it was used for electrical bits and lamps--it won't melt under high heat and it maintains its high dialectric strength. But it behaves like a ceramic and will shatter before it yields. Machining it is like sorta like machining a ceramic coffee cup.

Rather than drilling holes, the maker usually molds the hole except for one thin wall so that the steel cope and drag don't have to touch. Those thin walls can be broken out, but and attempting to drill them has about the same effect as breaking them out with a punch.

Rick "no stranger to shattered bakelite" Denney
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Oops, I used a Spring Tools pin punch and a handheld electric drill to make holes in them :chunky: Didn’t shatter anything tho’ :eagerness:

RandallsRaceShop said:
Any pictures of these lamps? Im just curious about what they look like.
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I will post pictures when I get the other lamp home, I left it at the shop.
 
Mauzinette said:
Oops, I used a Spring Tools pin punch and a handheld electric drill to make holes in them :chunky: Didn’t shatter anything tho’ :eagerness:
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Next time, try an arrow-head concrete/masonry bit at slow RPM with next to no pressure. Works a treat and one of the tricks my father taught me that was passed down to him.

Another option is a diamond glass drill.

Yes, I have drilled ceramic as well as bakelite, never shattered either material.
 
Just got home from a Lever Bros / Unilever breakfast with all the old ex-coworkers . About 35 mechanics/machinists and electricians showed up this year . I haven't seen this many crafts people in years but was good to see that most are doing well health wise . All are retired other than the youngest who was the oiler . A great time was had by all that attended , and I think I pawned off a few more tools from the garage . :encourage::grin:
 
Interesting series of posts. Bakelite is Phenol-formaldehyde resin mixed with some filler. Wood dust originally. Heat is the process to cause the setting reaction. Not long after Bakelite became commercially used, paper became the filler and Formica was born. This resin has been used with about every filler material known to man. Widely used in musical instruments, gears, billiard balls etc. The East Germans even made car bodies out of it. Information from Wikipedia. The dust from machining is not good for your lungs.
 
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