Hello to all. I stumbled onto this site and have enjoyed reading through it. I am looking for some Bakelite panel material to restore an old home-brew battery set. I would prefer Bakelite over lucite and other substitutes. Anyone know of a good source for this material? Thank you, TWB.
Thomas
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:Thomas
AES no longer carries it. I have found a few manufacturers / suppliers online but could never get a response to my emails. They don't seem to want to sell in small quantities.
Don't know what your project is, but seems like casting resin with appropriate coloring agent and fiberglas cloth found in craft shops might fit your needs. A large project of many curves, corners etc would probably require a mold, and possibly a vaccuum chamber to evacuate the mold during the curing process. If it involves a simple patch of an existing Bakelite case, 2 part epoxy comes to mind. I've had best success with JB Weld epoxy, available at most hardware stores, but it's always dark gray. There are many others that may come in the color you need or may have a coloring agent available.
marv
::www.tubesandmore.com and www.radiodaze.com sell what I believe is Lucite, or perhaps polystyrene. I don't know of anyone who sells sheets of bakelite. It would be nice to have.
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::Thomas
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:AES no longer carries it. I have found a few manufacturers / suppliers online but could never get a response to my emails. They don't seem to want to sell in small quantities.
Micarta has good electrical properties (maybe not the same as Bakelite, but it is available. Try this link:
http://www.rplastics.com/cesheet.html
Probably more than you need. You can try to ask for a small sample or check your hobby store.
Terry F
Watson,
If you find a supply, let me know. I would like a piece or 2 for some homebrews I'm planning.
JGJ
This is the cheapest prices I've found.
http://www.knifekits.com/store/s-pages/kk_store_1mainframe.htm?kk_products_handles_micarta.htm~smain
Terry F
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:This is the cheapest prices I've found.
:
:http://www.knifekits.com/store/s-pages/kk_store_1mainframe.htm?kk_products_handles_micarta.htm~smain
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:Terry F
Terry, Thanks for all your hard work! The biggest they sell is somewhat smaller than what I need (about 8"x22")althought I could probably see if they could custom cut a larger size. I'd prefer the paper laminate, which they don't seem to carry. I'll continue my search but again thanks for your help.
HEY….I didn’t see anyone mention countertop materiel, of which the Formica or Wilsonart [1] brands, come immediately to mind.
The afore-mentioned knife makers Micarta materiel seems to be of a 1/8 inch thickness and that also seems to be the size that I would probably want to use.
Back in the hey-days of custom cabinetmakers up until the 90’s….when the businesses sort of took a slump….. I found one place that was closing up shop and had a stack of his laminates massed in a heap that was at least 15-ft long by 10 ft wide …all being piled to a height of ~2 ft at the rear of his shop.
A query of the owner resulted in a go ahead of “ Sure, take any and ALL that you want”. Therefore I collected about a ¼ pickup load of ones that touched my fancy, with my tastes then leaning towards the wood grained , brushed metals or exotic marbleized patterns….both in gloss or matte finishes. There were plenty of different treatments of black…but that was of no particular appeal to me at that time.
If you were to take two pieces of the black materiel and place them back to back and glue clamp them , I believe that you would have what you want with only the very edges then needing a bit of wet-n-dry sanding and black colorization.
I feel that if you were to check out fabrication shops, a FREEBIE section as small as you mentioned just might be available to you. That is more than is always cut out in a double sink installation. Otherwise you can always go to a Homeless Despot (Reference my physics story / experience [2]: ) or to Lowes, etc and see samples and smaller cut pieces (2x2ft and 4x4ft ) that they have cut up to stock and sell.
On the custom aspect…… you could even break the glaze on a paired up sheet as mentioned above …. using wet-and-dry ….and then spray lacquer finish to your own desired color effect.
Reference links [1a]…
WILSONART
Aside comical reference links….e.g. the Homeless Despot [2]…
Homeless Despot ...plus, at no extra charge...just in case you haven’t had your giggle of the day…
Etcetera
73's de Edd
::All,
::
::This is the cheapest prices I've found.
::
::http://www.knifekits.com/store/s-pages/kk_store_1mainframe.htm?kk_products_handles_micarta.htm~smain
::
::Terry F
:
:Terry, Thanks for all your hard work! The biggest they sell is somewhat smaller than what I need (about 8"x22")althought I could probably see if they could custom cut a larger size. I'd prefer the paper laminate, which they don't seem to carry. I'll continue my search but again thanks for your help.
:
:
:
:
:
:HEY….I didn’t see anyone mention countertop materiel, of which the Formica or Wilsonart [1] brands, come immediately to mind.
:
:The afore-mentioned knife makers Micarta materiel seems to be of a 1/8 inch thickness and that also seems to be the size that I would probably want to use.
:
:Back in the hey-days of custom cabinetmakers up until the 90’s….when the businesses sort of took a slump….. I found one place that was closing up shop and had a stack of his laminates massed in a heap that was at least 15-ft long by 10 ft wide …all being piled to a height of ~2 ft at the rear of his shop.
:
:A query of the owner resulted in a go ahead of “ Sure, take any and ALL that you want”. Therefore I collected about a ¼ pickup load of ones that touched my fancy, with my tastes then leaning towards the wood grained , brushed metals or exotic marbleized patterns….both in gloss or matte finishes. There were plenty of different treatments of black…but that was of no particular appeal to me at that time.
:
:If you were to take two pieces of the black materiel and place them back to back and glue clamp them , I believe that you would have what you want with only the very edges then needing a bit of wet-n-dry sanding and black colorization.
:
:I feel that if you were to check out fabrication shops, a FREEBIE section as small as you mentioned just might be available to you. That is more than is always cut out in a double sink installation. Otherwise you can always go to a Homeless Despot (Reference my physics story / experience [2]: ) or to Lowes, etc and see samples and smaller cut pieces (2x2ft and 4x4ft ) that they have cut up to stock and sell.
:
:On the custom aspect…… you could even break the glaze on a paired up sheet as mentioned above …. using wet-and-dry ….and then spray lacquer finish to your own desired color effect.
:
:Reference links [1a]…
:
:WILSONART
:
:
:
:Aside comical reference links….e.g. the Homeless Despot [2]…
:
: Homeless Despot ...plus, at no extra charge...just in case you haven’t had your giggle of the day…
: Etcetera
:
:
:73's de Edd
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Thanks for the idea Edd. Looks as if the original Bakelite will be a tough item to locate, although online I did see several manufacturers in India and China. Unfortunately, my frequent flyer miles are a little low for a round trip to either.
Watson