DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO PROPERLY IDENTIFY BAKELITE? I HAVE A 1946 RCA RADIOLA 61-8 WITH A DARK BROWN PLASTIC CASE. WITH THE INFO I FOUND ON THIS SITE IT ONLY STATES THAT THE CASE IS MADE OF PLASTIC. IVE READ THAT MANY RADIOS OF THE 30'S AND 40'S THAT WHERE A PLASTIC CASE WHERE BAKELITE. IM WANTING TO CLEAN ALL THE CRUD OFF OF IS BUT DONT WANT TO DESTROY IS IN THE PROCESS. ANY INFO WOULD HELP.

:DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO PROPERLY IDENTIFY BAKELITE? I HAVE A 1946 RCA RADIOLA 61-8 WITH A DARK BROWN PLASTIC CASE. WITH THE INFO I FOUND ON THIS SITE IT ONLY STATES THAT THE CASE IS MADE OF PLASTIC. IVE READ THAT MANY RADIOS OF THE 30'S AND 40'S THAT WHERE A PLASTIC CASE WHERE BAKELITE. IM WANTING TO CLEAN ALL THE CRUD OFF OF IS BUT DONT WANT TO DESTROY IS IN THE PROCESS. ANY INFO WOULD HELP.
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Bakelite is a thermosetting plastic so once "cooked" it is not affected by heat up to several hundred degrees. Other plastics used for radio cases (mostly starting in the 1950s) were thermoplastics which melt at a fairly low temperature.

Touch a hot soldering iron to an inconspicuous spot on the case bottom- if it melts, it's thermoplastic (styrene or related material); if it doesn't, it's bakelite.

Bakelite is also much harder than thermoplastic and will not scratch easily if you try to gouge it with a sharp steel point.

Bakelite is not affected by paint stripper. Most paint strippers will attack non-bakelite plastics.