Hi
Has anyone used paint stripper on brown bakelite? Any issues? I have one here that has been painted by a previous owner.

Thanks
Ben

I have used stripper on bakelite with success.............

Selleys Kwikstrip is good and not too many fumes, unless you put your snout near the tin. Bakelite will generally cop it well. You may need two or three goes at it, depending on how many coats of paint have been applied.

Thanks guys
Good to know.

Ben

Ok I have a Question. I have acquired a AWA 540MA and it has a tiny bit of white house paint on the cloth surrounding the dial. What should I use to remove it. There isn't much and a bit is on the White Bakelite as well.

Oil base or water base?
I would be trying prepsol on the bakerlite and picking at it.
As for the cloth .hmm oil or water base paint is the question?
If it is oil dampen in with water and wool wash and pick it off.
If its water base dont wet it as its going to spead

I am sure that its oil based.

In another life I used to mount metal specimens in bakelite for polishing, etching and microscopic examination. The chemicals were a variety of acids (HNO3, HCl, H2SO4), alkalis (NaOH) and solvents eg ethyl alcohol, acetone, carbon tetrachloride. Bakelite is resistant to short term exposure to just about anything.
The only chemicals that I saw cause damage were acetone and chromic acid, but that was after long term exposure, ie overnight. So I reckon short exposure to paint stripper shouldn't cause any damage.

The bakelite used was a variety of colours and all used wood powder as a filler - the cellular structure was visible in the microscope. Out of the mounting molds the mounts have a high polish as the surface is thermo-setting resin with the filler below the surface. In the polished condition a slight texture was always visible as the bakelised wood powder was brought to the surface. So for the best sheen, polishing, especially the use of silicon carbide papers, should be minimised.

It is possible that a different filler was used for radio cabinet moldings, in which case more polishing might be possible. But considering that wood powder is probably the cheapest filler, I would be surprised if something else was used.

Oil base on Bakelite will not be a problem to get off, because the bakelite is a smooth surface and the paint, even though its oil base has nothing to bond too. Oil paint is basically varnish with colour pigments in it.

I also agree that a mild stripper like KGB would not hurt that bakelite if it was only on there for a couple of minutes. As for cloth, I can only think that woolwash and picking at the paint maybe the way to go. I have found that prepsol will remove unwanted overspray on car paint work safely, but you cant put it on grill cloth
Pete

I have used automotive clearcoat on very badly weathered bakelite (I'm talking about years of sun and rain) with amazing results.

That would of been Acrylic Auto clear top coat.
It was good stuff and was dust dry in minutes of hitting the panel.
Just pollish it up once a year and looks great.
I spayed hundreds of cars in it,But the industry doesn't use it anymore. only back yard guys ,but you can still buy it at Auto one or any Auto paint supplies and its safe as houses to use, not like 2 pac

Pete