Bakealite alternative?

[olymon]

I have a customer asking for a bakealite handle. We have some material called garolite xx at work that seems very similar in properties. Anybody know of a modern equivalent?

 

[john april]

maybe check out some delrin.

 

[olymon]

The Delrin I'm familiar with at work seems more like UHMW , smooth and slippery. What grade ? The Garolite xx looks and feels like paper micarta.

 

[Lieblad]

Bakelite is a phenolic resin, much like Micarta. Normally used powdered or loose fibers as it filler. Some is said to contain asbestos also.. be careful abrading it.

Formica, similar in its manufacture. I use alot as thin spacer between other materials.

I always thought Garolite is made of paper, which is a cellulose material afterall, ”paper micarta”.
But not seen much Garolite, they maybe manufacture different types.

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

If you come across old Bakelite assume that has asbestos in it

 

[olymon]

I'll make sure to stay away from the original, sounds nasty.

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

There is a black on black canvas Micarta that might make a good substitute as well as regular paper based Micarta. I'd also consider ebonite which is a very hard rubber.

 

[timos-]

i thought garolite was just a tradename for G10...its prevalent on mcmaster carr under that name in lots of different shapes/sizes.

 

[olymon]

The stuff we have here at work is a LOT different than the G10 we use. It seemed kind of chippy to me like it would chip off like flint if hit wrong on a squared off edge. Definitely more paper Micarta in appearance.

Nathan, give me some insight on the Ebonite. I noticed it in the McMaster Carr catalog and was curious what it was like.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Garolite comes in many types.

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Nathan, give me some insight on the Ebonite. I noticed it in the McMaster Carr catalog and was curious what it was like.

It kind of smells bad to work it, I guess because all the sulfur needed to vulcanize rubber that hard. But I like the end result and have been putting it on some competition Choppers. It is an unusual tactile feel, it seems to feel somewhere between Micarta regular rubber. It is an unusual and uncommon material today but it was once one of the early polymers. It is still used on musical instruments and some boutique fountain pens. A long time ago it was used in Ebonite bowling balls, and you can still salvage it from antique balls today, though not the new ones. There are a few places you can order it from online, I wasn't aware that McMaster Carr had it, I bought some full sheets from Japan but there are some American distributors of smaller volumes.



Some disadvantages are it is not as tough as Micarta and apparently it will bleach out some if exposed to a lot of direct sunlight. In my opinion it is a niche product but I like the way it feels and I will be using it on some of my knives.

I'll be using it matt in my applications but it can be polished shiny.