cutting bakelite

[cgwbear]

hi, i would like to know the best way to cut bakelite. i have fork and knife handles. i would like to cut them endwise for use as inlay material for knife scales. i would also like to cut them horizontally for beads. what is the best tool? safety precautions? any other info. thanks.........................b

 

[J.S. Carter]

the only thing I could find on the subject is that you want a high Surface Feet Per Minute RPM and feed the work slowly. also dont breath the dust, wear a respirator as it is highly carcinigenic...

 

[cgwbear]

any other good ideas or safety tips? i have a quite a few to cut............................b

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

It can be cut with regular wood working tools, just like a dense hardwood. I would avoid breathing the dust, and I would avoid overheating it by binding or feeding too slow and smoking it.

Unlike wood, it can be processed wet to reduce heat and dust issues. A bit of soap in the water will help act like a lubricant. Though dry is okay too.

A wood cutting router, bandsaw, tablesaw, radial arm saw or plain old hand saw will work fine.

It is a relatively benign material and it is fairly nice to work with. You could even use an old hacksaw and expect fairly good results.

 

[cgwbear]

thank you both for the good advice..................b

 

[Phydeaux]

I believe that bakelite is in the family of phenolic plastics. I would handle it like micarta/phenolic resin.

Try a goggle search --- bakelite MSDS

 

[NickWheeler]

Maybe Karl Andersen can chime in, I know from his posts that he uses a lot of Bakelite.