Paper, cardboard, cloth, wood pulp, sawdust, asbestos and the
like may be impregnated with the resin, producing tough and hard
material suitable for various purposes. Brass work painted with it and
then baked at 300 deg. F. acquires a lacquered surface that is unaffected by
soap. Forced in powder or sheet form into molds under a pressure of 1200
to 2000 pounds to the square inch it takes the most delicate
impressions. Billiard balls of bakelite are claimed to be better than
ivory because, having no grain, they do not swell unequally with heat
and humidity and so lose their sphericity. Pipestems and beads of
bakelite have the clear brilliancy of amber and greater strength.
Fountain pens made of it are transparent so you can see how much ink you
have left. A new and enlarging field for bakelite and allied products is
the making of noiseless gears for automobiles and other machinery, also
of air-plane propellers.
Celluloid is more plastic and elastic than bakelite. It is therefore
more easily worked in sheets and small objects.
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