Is it Bakelite?

[Slivovitz]

This recent thread brought up the question of finding an injector razor with a genuine Bakelite handle.

I can't say that this is terribly important to me as such. As far as I'm concerned, Bakelite is just another plastic, nice enough as plastics go, but not something I'd pay premium prices for. Still, assuming that you do want the real article, you'd want a way to distinguish it from other plastics.

Some desultory googling came up with a number of links, like this one. The tests given there and elsewhere, though, rather depend on you having the piece in your hand, and having permission to do some tests on it. Not really applicable to buying stuff on eBay.

Besides older Schick injectors, are there shaving items where it's important to people to get real Bakelite? Other razors, cases, vintage brushes, perhaps other items I'm not thinking of?

 

[kingfisher]

I'm with you. Who cares? Bakelite, plastic, whatever. If it shaves sweet, it's all good.

 

[Chickpea McGee]

The bakelite tests can be useful when it comes to brushes.

As for the Schick Injectors, there are a couple of other differentiators to help you if you are looking for the bakelite version. For instance, the bakelite handles don't have a seem, where the later plastic handles do. Also, the bakelite versions will not say Eversharp on them, whereas the other types of plastics handles are typically labeled Eversharp-Schick.

 

[Jaymo]

If it's Bakelite, it is a plastic. It's a thermoset plastic, as opposed to a thermoplastic. Bakelite is just a phenolic resin made of phenol and formaldehyde, usually impregnated into cellulose fibers, but not always.

Celluloid is nitrocellulose, in other words, single base smokeless gun powder. That's why movie film is no longer made of it, nor children's toys. Acetate doesn't conflagrate like nitro.

I agree that I wouldn't pay a premium for early cheap plastic. It's not like it's ivory.
However, if anyone here would like to pay a premium for phenolic, I'd be glad to make handles from 1/2" Micarta. ;-)

 

[manimal]

The bakelite tests can be useful when it comes to brushes.

As for the Schick Injectors, there are a couple of other differentiators to help you if you are looking for the bakelite version. For instance, the bakelite handles don't have a seem, where the later plastic handles do. Also, the bakelite versions will not say Eversharp on them, whereas the other types of plastics handles are typically labeled Eversharp-Schick.

Even that doesn't seem to be a real "rule" as I have an injector that says Eversharp Schick with a bakelite handle and no seam.

 

[THAW]

Mine's cooking in coke and gonna scrub it with a ball of aluminum foil to get some rust off like I just saw in a video on youtube. But I guess mine is seamed and more white. Sucks no bakelite! Arghh, that's why I went out last night to get stuff to clean it up. It'll still be a cool razor to have on the counter though. It's been sitting around dirty and needing cleaning for like 3 weeks so I broke down and wanted to clean a razor and have something pretty and old for my next shave and for the counter. I like that word 'bakelite' and thrift stores. I've gone about every week or two for 2 decades to second hand places. The real letdown of those places at least in my town which is right by a big music city is I've never found a good guitar or even a decent one and never a tube amp. I always wonder if in the '60s-'80s if it was any better since the music stuff would've been more unknown and not of a high value. Still know nothing about bakelite but it's sometimes worth money if you want to sell it and I think people collect it.