Bakelite??

[lsstaipei]

A local custom knifemaker use this stuff for handle material,and I get crazy about his work recently,but I don't know too much about this stuff.
Is this stuff a sort of Micarta?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Bill Siegle]

I do believe that micarta replaced bakelite. I used to have an old machete with bakelite slabs and they held up nicely. The stuff seemed to me to be a real tough type of wood if I was to try and describe it. I think it would definitly make a suitable handle.

 

[bob bowie]

Bakelite is a plastic maked from phenol, and formaldehyde. You see it a lot in stuff made from the the early 1900's till 1950ish. You could get it in lots of wild colors,etc...
It's pretty stable, most of the time it just chips at the most. Are you sure it's real Bakelite he is using? I have'nt seen it used in a while.

HTH!!!

 

[lsstaipei]

Thanx for the quick replies.

The knifemaker told me they are Bakelite.They are polished and felt and looked like the Micarta slabs on my Carlypso jr.There are quite a few manufacturers in Taiwan.I guess they are still common here.
Here is the link: http://www.fibersheet.com.tw/english.htm

 

[APM]

Bakelite will not only crack but if it gets hot it could light up and burn, it's not good for a knife handle IMO and that's why no one that i know of uses it!

James

 

[bob bowie]

I think your thinking of Celluloid? .

 

[george tichbourne]

Bakelite and paper micarta are similar in that they both use phenolic resin and paper. Micarta uses sheets of paper laminated together while bakelite uses paper fibre as a filler in the phenolic resin so it may be compression moulded. The lack of lamination in the bakelite make it susceptable to chipping.

 

[APM]

Darn it i was thinking of celluloid when it came to the burn part, but Bakelite is still not a good materal for a knife handle in my book, it cracks and chips too easily.

James