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What are the Different Uses of Bakelite?

Rebecca Mecomber
Rebecca Mecomber

Bakelite®, an amber-colored plastic material, is the trademarked name for the phenol-formaldehyde resin invented by Belgian-American chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland. It is known as one of the first synthetic plastics, derived from methanol and coal tar. Once having a wide variety of uses, today it is used primarily for things such as vintage and collectible jewelry, billiard balls, board game pieces, and firearm magazines.

In 1907, Baekeland was seeking a more durable replacement for shellac and hard rubber. Experimenting with various pressure and temperature settings, he discovered a moldable plastic that became very hard when cooled and dried. Baekeland announced his findings of the new chemical oxynenzyl-methylenglycolanhydride, or Bakelite®, at the American Chemical Society in 1909. The New York Times hailed the new material as an economical replacement for celluloid and hard rubber. The plastic is fire resistant and proved valuable for use in components such as radio housing, machine gun parts, car brake cylinders, electrical receptacles, and electric iron parts.

Bakelite was used to make radios in the 1920s and 1930s.
Bakelite was used to make radios in the 1920s and 1930s.

Bakelite® was widely used in the 1920s and 1930s in the United States and Great Britain. Manufacturers made many different products from the hefty, durable plastic. It was crafted into rotary-dial telephones, radios, electric guitars, appliance parts, door knobs, bangles, and more. The plastic was even under consideration by the United States Mint as a replacement for copper in making pennies.

Bakelite may be used for vintage jewelry.
Bakelite may be used for vintage jewelry.

The use of this material declined after World War II, when lighter and more colorful plastics were developed. Today, Bakelite® products are considered valuable antiques and remnants of an optimistic era of burgeoning scientific advances and developments. Jewelry designers often recycle it from antique radios or appliance part castoffs into new jewelry pieces, creating something new from the old. It is also the unsung and unseen hero of hip-joint replacement parts, pacemakers, and cataract lenses.

Bakelite may be used for game board pieces.
Bakelite may be used for game board pieces.

In 1988, authors of The Bakelite® Jewelry Book exposed a counterfeit product named "fakelite." The authors expressed concern that fakelite would devalue the vintage jewelry market. Antique collectors can perform a certain metal polish test to detect fakelite from Bakelite®; when wiped with polish, the real plastic will rub off, leaving a yellowish stain on the cloth. Fakelite also produces a pungent petroleum odor when rubbed or warmed, but Bakelite® emits a distinctly formaldehyde odor.

Discussion Comments

anon281241

I too would like to recycle old bakelite into new pieces of jewelry, but cannot find out how to do it-I think you have to crush it and then inject something in it-the fine powder it is crushed into is highly toxic and is carcinogenic so special precautions have to be implemented. I know people who do this but they will not share the process with me. Does anyone know who teaches it or knows how to do it?

anon214671

I just heard on an episode of "Pawn Stars" that one of the first products made from Bakelite was billiard balls. They were much cheaper to produce than balls made from ivory, and more durable than balls made out of clay.

I once owned a recorder (the musical instrument) made out of Bakelite, and it was much sturdier than any modern plastic toy I've seen. I wouldn't mind learning how to carve jewelry or other pieces of art out of a block of Bakelite.

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    • Bakelite was used to make radios in the 1920s and 1930s.
      By: greg mercurio
      Bakelite was used to make radios in the 1920s and 1930s.
    • Bakelite may be used for vintage jewelry.
      By: FedeCandoniPhoto
      Bakelite may be used for vintage jewelry.
    • Bakelite may be used for game board pieces.
      By: Magdalena Kucova
      Bakelite may be used for game board pieces.
    • Bakelite may be used in machine gun parts.
      By: Aleksey Stemmer
      Bakelite may be used in machine gun parts.
    • An old telephone made out of Bakelite®.
      By: Tom Foxall
      An old telephone made out of Bakelite®.
    • Bakelite is used today to make billiard balls.
      By: Marijus
      Bakelite is used today to make billiard balls.