On 25/02/2021 09:23 am, Chris Green wrote:

Jimmy Stewart ... wrote:

is Paxolin the same as bakerlight ? ...

No, not if my memory serves me right.

Paxolin is the sort of stuff that tag boards and early printed circuit
boards were made of. I.e. it's brown and sort of laminated.

I think "Paxolin" might be a brand name, but the material is an
impregnated laminated fibre or paper, used exactly as you say.

The stuff has a very distinctive smell when heated (eg, when being cut
with a saw). There's a place a few miles from here that makes (or used
to make) circuit boards to order. You often get that smell as you pass.

Bakolite is an early plastic that was used to make moulded items like
plugs etc. It's often dark brown but doesn't have to be, it's quite
hard and doesn't melt, it chars if you make it very hot and smells.

I wouldn't be sure that bakelite is in current use. The world doesn't
really have much use for non-thermoplastic, brittle materials any more.