Several things to consider. One is age second is transparency. Like all plastic materials the older it is the more brittle it becomes. This is usually due to exposure to heat and/or UV although high humidity and vapors can also degrade materials. Does this mean old material is bad, absolutely not! It just means you should know what your dealing with.
The more translucent the Bakelite material the more brittle it becomes. This is similar with most plastics. Most fillers become strengthening agents. There are extremes and special instances where this is not true but most fillers increase hardness, stiffness, and strength. Also when you make translucent Bakelite you need to modify the process to get clarity that is not needed when you add fillers.
So with that background there is really only one issue that will cause problems when using Bakelite and that is drilling. Bakelite is very hard. When drilling you can very quickly, and I mean quickly, generate a lot of heat from friction. In a few seconds you can get a drill so hot you cannot touch it with your bare hands. So hot it can smoke the drill bit. You need to cool the bit when drilling. If you are using a metal lathe then use coolant if you are using a wood lathe retract the drill and either use drip coolant or I use a water soaked rag and grab the drill to cool it down. It takes a few extra minutes to drill but it works. Also I found that running the speeds higher is better. I use a split bit but that is not needed. If you are not getting a ribbon of material off the drill and it looks more powdery than you need to sharpen your bit. Again an option would be to use a low angle or slow spiral drill and they work well for any plastics drilling.
Turning the material should be no issue. I have never heard of a problem during the turning. I use a skew as a scraper and it works well. I usually stone sharpen the skew to avoid constantly resharpening on a grinder. Lastly, it is best to use a collet to hold the material if you use a chuck you need to be careful not to over tighten.
As you have seen a little care and you should not have an issue.
Dan
