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Raise a glass to...Leo Baekeland - inventor of Bakelite

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Interesting. Did bakelite ever achieve its original design objective or some unintended application like adhesive on Post-it. GONZO.
 
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gonzo said:
Interesting. Did bakelite ever achieve its original design objective or some unintended application like adhesive on Post-it. GONZO.
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NO !!
 
I learned all about Bakelite in my polymers course at engineering school. Although it has its' issues Bakelite was for its time and probably still is a truly amazing product.
Remember that before this product Billiard balls and Piano Keys were made of ivory.
 
So Jo does my early 1900 upright grand piano have ivory or Bakelite keys?
 
Bakelite was invented in 1907 but I have no Idea how long it took to be commercially introduced and what it was first used for.
I have a late 1880s Harmonium with Ivory keys and pull knobs, all very yellowed with time, so if the white keys have turned yellow it is probably Ivory.
 
RestoreThemAll said:
So Jo does my early 1900 upright grand piano have ivory or Bakelite keys?
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Well Maybe:

Exportation of Ivory was severely curtailed in 1989 to discourage poaching.

However, some may have been on hand or slipped through.

If you take a very small object like a piece of wire heat it and burn Ivory on your piano in an inconspicuous place the odor will be like hair burning. Which is not a characteristic of Bakelite
 
Piano keys are only slightly yellowed. I'd say they are Leo's invention. I hate to burn the keys but I'm now very curious. If I find anything interesting I'll let you know but I don't want to hijack a Bakelite thread on a car forum for piano stuff
 
Joe Schlosser said:
Bakelite was invented in 1907 but I have no Idea how long it took to be commercially introduced and what it was first used for.
I have a late 1880s Harmonium with Ivory keys and pull knobs, all very yellowed with time, so if the white keys have turned yellow it is probably Ivory.
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According to Wikipedia, the first commercial use--as electrical insulators--was in 1908, and it started to appear in billiard balls in 1912 so, yeah, your keys are probably ivory.
 
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