bake lite for knife handles?

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bartblade

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Nov 4, 2002
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i saw a program on making jewelry out of bake lite the other day on tv.
i was wondering if anyone has thought of or tried to make a handle from this material. what i saw of it you could mold the handle to shape, drill and machine it after it has cured. and you can make any design you wanted in it.


i have a friend who wants me to make a knife for her and wants yellow and black for the handle colors to match her favorite football team i was wondering if this stuff would work? if it will i could even make a design of their logo in it.
 
I think some Nazi bayonets had Bakelite handles. They were molded.

The Bakleite I have used for setting metal pieces for polishing was a powder we put in a pressure mold with alot of heat.

If you run across a reference for something other than a powder, I'd enjoy seeing it, bartblade.

Chemically, it's not pretty stuff. I agree with Shakudo that there would be toxicity issues to consider.
 
the stuff i saw was like a clay. the lady doing the program used a rolling pin and a knife to make designs and then put them in a conventional oven to cure them she made alot of earings, necklaces, and braclets. she sliced the stuff and pushed it gently onto the base peace and baked it and after it was cured it wouldnt come apart.

im still looking for some more info on this stuff but all im finding is collecting the past jewlry items.
 
Sounds like she worked it just like you would polymer clay. That's interesting. If you find anything more, please share! Thanks!!
 
that might be what im talking about. but im sure and my mother in law is also sure the laddy said it was bakelite.

when i go to the mall today at 3:00 to see the chronicals of narnia ill stop by the jewlry shop and check out what it is. i know they have some jewlry made from this stuff! not sure if they are knowledgable of their products though.


if it is polymer clay do you think it would work for what we intend to use it for.

ive had some of that stuff in my hands before and it seemed to be pretty sturdy stuff to me.
 
bartblade, wrong link for the polymer clay. :(

What I remember of Bakelite stuff is that it would like to chip in thin sections and at edges. Other then that, it seemed eternal. I've got an old revereware skillet with a Bakelite handle that has been in the family a good 50 years and it's still used frequently.

The polymer clay is pretty sturdy but I would question if it'd survive a good fall onto a corner of a handle.

Keep us informed, please! thanks.
 
Thanks for the link! As an aside, a lot of damascus makers will develop patterns by laminating two or more colors of clay and twisting, cutting, reforming, etc. If the stuff would work for even letter-opener handles, this offers substantial opportunity for creativity. there have been a couple glass handled knives recently that were pretty cool. They don't all have to go into the woods and tolerate hard use!

There's a show on HGTV daily called "That's Clever" about various craft pursuits. Some of the folks they've shown working with clays make some of the coolest complex designs with clay.
 
thats what i was thinking at least this stuff could be treated as mother of pearl or other presious handle materials
 
originally, bake-lite was used for the 'Nam era M-16 furniture (grips and such). but they quit using it because it was too brittle. so i'm not sure how it would do as knife scales....?
Alex
 
ok i went to the jewlry store in the local mall. they did tell me its the polymer clay; but couldnt provide any other information like we need.

so i went to hobby lobby and they said they didnt know what i was talking about; but my father in law says its also known as "fimo" and he said hes seen it our hobby lobby. till tomorrow
 
the polymer clays are too fragile for knife handles unless the knife is going into a display box. once cured they will scratch with a fingernail or shatter if dropped onto any surface besides a pile rug.
 
Bakelite is the original plastic patented in 1907. It's heat resistant and was used for knobs on radios,pot handles,kitchen knife handles etc. and is still used on pots, pans and kitchen knife handles today. I was lucky enough a few years back to come across some black 1/4" bakelite sheet and decided to use it on some small skinners to see how it would work.I liked it real well! It works easy (not gummy like most plastics) its heat,water and oil resistant and the only thing you have to be careful of is to not to have places that are too thin and narrow because it is just a little on the brittle side. Also when its buffed it does'nt buff to a high gloss plastic cheep look, what you get instead is a soft luster.............hope this helps,John
 
Polymer clay used in jewelery arts (mostly beads and pins) is often wrongly called Bakelite.The clay is used to simulate Bakelite,but is not the same,or even similar.It might hold up for a letter opener or art knife handle that was never to be actually used.There are also metallic clays in gold and silver that are formed and then fired to make metal objects. This is interesting,but too weak for knife use,too.
 
well Tested the polly clay and test piece 1 was 1/8 thick and broke after it cooled.

Test piece 2 was 1/4 thick and its still solid; but it is a little flexible.

Test piece 3 was a 1/2 thick and is solid with no flexing.

havent tested it on any machine yet. i need to sand before i will drill.

later when i get more im going to try thicker pieces.


1 note the polly 111 clay brand is the most mallibal of the 2 brands i got. the others have to be needed before workable if not it will crack while trying to work it to shape.
 
these new pieces seem pretty stable

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/bartblade/HPIM0485a.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/bartblade/HPIM0489a.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/bartblade/HPIM0490.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/bartblade/HPIM0495a.jpg


it seems the thicker the pice is the more stable it is

after they have dried and cooled over night ive tried to bend and break these and they dont seem to budge.

i have made 2 others and i ll post pics when the batteries charge
i made these 2 new ones to be drilled for the use of hidden tangs
they are great completely shaped to hand all that needs dont is a little sanding and the whole drilled and its ready to go.

oh yeah my 19 month old daughter got ahold of them and couldnt destroy them so she gave it her seal of approval.
 
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