Bakelite EDC?? Yep, Bakelite!!

Karl B. Andersen

Karl B. Andersen

Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Messages
5,667
Every now and then I feel I get lucky, and this is one of those times.
Remember good ol' Bakelite silver ware in every drawer you looked in? This stuff came in many forms including radios, telephones, jewelry, silverware, you name it.
It was truly the world's first phenolic material, and was made from formaldehyde.
A fellow knifemaker, who most people know, came across a rather large "chunk" of good ol' Bakelite in an electrical installation "rehab". I was able to horse-trade for enough to make a few knives.
This stuff is so tough, I layed a piece on my anvil and whacked it with a 28 ounce Estwing framing hammer and it didn't even mark it!
Anyway, here's a little EDC with a 4" blade, 8 1/4" overall, forged from 5160, convex grind, hot-blued mild steel fittings in a take-down assembly. (Imagine that!)
bake6-1.jpg
 
Nice! I gotta ask. Does it smell like Vietnam Beer when you work it. The Beer there was full of formaldehyde
 
My dad worked at Bakelite in Tysley, Birmingham, England for 25 years. His work clothes smelled of phenolic resin and we always had offcuts of it all over the place. It was generally paper or linen based and always reddy brown. Sometimes we got the wood veneered stuff. I really wish I had some of that now! I gave away a 8 foot by 4 foot sheet of it when I sold my parents house! I wonder if the next door neighbour still has it? I just have one small piece of linen laminated bakelite left which I used to use as a sandpaper backing block. I have been thinking of making a knife handle with some of it.
 
I truly did enjoy working with this stuff. So dense it's difficult to describe! Makes Micarta look like Silly Putty!
I'll be making my own EDC with Bakelite.
 
Interesting handle material... It sounds like it is near indestructible. How is the grip when its wet? BTW thanks for posting the knife dimension specs.
 
krug82 said:
Interesting handle material... It sounds like it is near indestructible. How is the grip when its wet? BTW thanks for posting the knife dimension specs.
Click to expand...

I knew you'd appreciate that.
When I finished the piece, I took it up to 1500 and attempted a polish on the handle. It did't do well! It doesn't like to be buffed!
So, I tokk it back to an 800 grit satin finish and it has a nice little "bite" to it when wet.
 
That is a cool little knife. I have no problem with synthetic handle materials on a working knife, though wood would be my personal preference.

Roger
 
I think that is totally cool. I got to see the handle material when it was just a block. Great looking knife!
 
Andrew, the stuff you describe is Micarta. It is a phenolic Resin based material. Same with the laminated wood. It comes in linen, canvas, paper, and Paka-wood. Although the paka wood isn't really a micarta at all. It is just a generic term we use for it. Bakelite is a different animal. It doesn't smell like micarta at all. It is almost like a very hard rubber. Like old bowling balls. You use to see a lot of it on the handles of pots and pans. It is a molded material, rather that a laminated one in most cases. It can smell of formaldehyde rather than phenolic resins. Mike
 
I have a (read: several) Clarinet(s) that is(are) bakelite (Yes, I play the Clarinet, And I own more then one) it is an awesome "plastic".


Cool Knife, Nice work!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top