I’ve recently received one of the brown Bakelite snuff boxes that you see around, with the geometric design on the lid. The box is in great condition, but with one slight problem. It is not snuff proof. The lid appears to be not quite wide enough to fill the hole, with the result that there is a gap between one edge of the lid and the corresponding inside edge of the box. Does anyone have any ideas on how to rectify this? The box looks fantastic, and I really want to use it, but would prefer the snuff to stay in it rather than end up in my pocket.
Most of them suffer from this, I don’t know if it’s just poor moulding because they were cheap boxes or an age thing. The lid on my old one is too loose to carry in the pocket. I guess in principle it may be possible to fill out the edges with something,but if the box has any value for you I would be careful what you use. It’s a pretty primitive material and you wouldn’t want to dissolve the thing. There are Bakelite collector groups who could possibly advise. I just have mine as a collection piece.
Bakelite collector groups! Just what I was counting on.
I go the box for less than a tenner on ebay, so it doesn’t have any value to me personally, and I would like to use it, so I’ll give it a go filling it out, see what happens. I won’t use anything dissolving though!
I have a silicone putty that I use for one of my horn boxes. Not sure about silicone and bakelite though.
You could just use it as a tabletop snuff box
Thats not a bad idea n9inch, if my attempt to seal it fails thats what I do. My better half is getting fed up with random tins dotted all over the place anyway, at least it’d look classy on the table next to my green leather club chair…!
Bakelite, as with any plastic, is the victim of simple age and temperature. Most plastics will crack, warp and discolor with age, bakelite is no exception. I have a few paper mache boxes, they seem to hold up very well and they are still cheap.
keep it out of sunlight as well if you use it as a table box. Bakelite degrades and develops an acrid flavour in sunlight.
I collect old tube bakelite radios and Trans-Oceanics when I see them. There is some tests to do on bakelite to determine if that is what it is actually made of…One is rubbing it and it should give off a formaldehyde odor. The other is to polish it with simichrome polish and the rag should turn yellow. I’m not sure I would want bakelite for snuff, but it is pretty…who knows.
Or you can spritz a little 409 on a Q-Tip and if it turns yellow it is bakelite.
You seen the price of spritzers these days?!? I’d get a bulk tub of simichrome, not bagged ;).