[Martin]

I hope you can help me.
For the restoration of my 1938 car I am looking for a way to reproduce the Bakelite knobs.
Original they were dark satin mat brown with black stains like on the old radio’s.

Is it possible to reproduce this effect with colouring resin and then pore it in the mould?

[Katherine Swift]

Yes, I think you can do this. If I were to try, I would cast brown resin, then swirl black resin into the mold using a toothpick. Mix enough to get the swirling you want. Allow to cure.

[Martin]

Thank you for your quick answer.

I thought about that but I think that this will give it a Marble effect. Bakelite is more dotted and not so swirly.

Will it work when I use a plastic bag and dip this in the dotted colour resin. Stain the mould with this and then pour the main colour in the mould?

[Katherine Swift]

Hmm. I don’t think that will get you what you want. Rhonda’s suggestion is a good one.

Do you have a link to something similar? I hope that will give me more ideas.

[Rhonda]

You might be able to reproduce the effect of the Bakelite by using black nail polish. Use mold release and let dry. Make tiny dots in the mold with the nail polish and let dry before pouring the brown resin. The nail polish will join to the resin, making the speckled effect. The problem will be making the dots small enough. The Bakelite I remember also had tiny specks of dark greyish brown mixed in with the black specks. My family had a ’34 Chevy with Bakelite knobs, they were originally shiny but turned matte within a year. We were told to use car wax on them to keep them shiny.

[Martin]

Thank you again for the good tip with the nail polish.
I found a picture from a box with the effect I am looking for.

https://img.etsystatic.com/il/b6b725/978272506/il_fullxfull.978272506_2emz.jpg

[Katherine Swift]

Thanks for the picture. That is helpful!

If I were to try this, I would mix the two colors separately. Next, pour a little bit of the dark color into the mold, then a little bit of the lighter color into the mold. (like you are resin painting) Use something to swirl the colors together, but not mixing them together. Add in more of each resin and keep repeating the process until you get what you want. It’s going to be tough since you are working ‘backwards’ in the sense that the resin you pour into the mold first is what is going to be the surface of your knob. With resin painting you have the benefit of seeing exactly what you are working with.

Does that help?

[Rhonda]

That effect is known as tortoise shell, and I’m not sure how they do it, it is not the effect I remember our car having.
It is a pretty box!!

[Author]

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