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First of all let's make sure we all know the difference between "Bakelite"
and "Catalin". Bakelite, although the word is used generically, is really
the trade name of the "Bakelite Corporation". Likewise "Catalin" was the
trade name of the "Catalin Corporation". These type plastics were also was made by
other companies such as the "Marblelette Corporation".
Bakelite is very common, it's opaque and usually comes
in the colors of brown, black or is painted. Commonly used in electrical
insulators, pot & skillet handles, door handles, radio & TV cabinets.
Another company that made theses plastics was "Fiberloid".
Catalin on the other hand is quiet beautiful, usually
translucent and it comes in a beautiful array of colors. Many of these
colors are very vivid, usually marbled with one or more other colors
giving it Gem or Onyx quality in appearance. These plastics were used in
jewelry, some kitchen and table utensils and radio cabinets.
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Bakelite is the trade name for a pressure molded
thermoset plastic made by the Bakelite, Fiberloid or one of several
other smaller companies. The raw materials are
phenol and formaldehyde. Bakelite is opaque, usually brown or black
and often painted when used as a radio cabinet. The glossy finish on
the non painted sets is a product of the heat and high pressure used
during the molding process and can be damaged when cleaned with alkali
& ammonia cleaners. It is impossible to restore the original gloss to
Bakelite once this finish is destroyed. One reason for this is the
fillers used; which were usually fiberglass, sawdust or asbestos. These
are just under the surface finish and when the finish is gone, these
fuzzy particles make the finish dull.
Bakelite cabinet radio
Catalin is
the trade name for cast thermoset
plastic made by the Catalin, Bakelite or Marblette corp. These plastics come in a wide variety of colors and when
polished and shined "Catalin" has a gem like
quality.
Catalin is a very hard plastic, it does not
easily melt or burn and and almost always translucent. Dealers of
jewelry made of this type of plastic usually mistakenly refer to it as
Bakelite. Often when you find a radio or something made of "Catalin"
the apparent color will be different than when originally
manufactured. The color transformation takes place over a period of
time and some colors are more prone to change than others. Red seems
to be the most stable. Originally the yellow hues were "Alabaster", a
white color that when well marbled, resembles a piece of marble. Some
of the blue colors will appear green or even brown if heavily
oxidized. Often it takes the work of an expert to restore a beautiful
piece of Catalin to it's original color. The Alabaster color however
will revert back to it's yellow color fairly quickly. I have taken a
radio
cabinet all the way back to Alabaster (white) only to have it fade
back to yellow within a year or so.
The raw materials (phenol &
formaldehyde) are the same as use in "Bakelite" except there are no
fibrous fillers in Catalin.
Catalin cabinet radio
Other types of hard
plastics are:
Beetle, Plaskon & Urea. More on these later.
cleaning & polishing Bakelite & Catalin
Radiolaguy's tips
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