Help with Corian

[jimi43]

Hi All

I have to fabricate some inserts for the handles for the chest of drawers I got over the weekend at the bootfair and thought that bone coloured Corian would be ideal:

As can be seen...the brittle bottom of the ivorine has broken off.

I could cut and shape from a block offcut but the only Corian I can find suitable on FleaBay is knife scales at 140x45x12 and it is too narrow.

Would it be possible to bend Corian if heated gently in an oven?

Does anyone have any bone coloured Corian of say 50x50x16 or greater? I need two pieces.

Willing to buy any offcuts of that colour (bone or ivory)...and pay postage

Or any other suggestions?

Jim

 

[jasonB]

Slice it thin on a bandsaw and then its easy enough to thermo form by heating in the oven before bending it over a former.

See if Corian will send you a sample, they are usually 50mm squares 12mm thick. They do a few ivory colours so one may suite.

The other option is the "alternative ivory" and imitation bone/horn which you can get in reasonable sizes, Available from GPS , failing that **** do it.

Jason

 

[yetloh]

I am sure that if you could find a Corian fabricator near you and talk to the guys on the shop floor you could get an offcut for nothing.

Jim

 

[Jensmith]

You could try GB Joinery Fabrications or Premier Trade Surfaces. I've had bits of Corian from both of those.

 

[jimi43]

Thank you all for the very useful tips and suggestions.

I have emailed Dupont and one supplier..Nationwide Worktops...to see if they have any samples...we shall see. Tomorrw I will try to find a local supplier in NW Kent and see if they can give me some offcuts.

The picture does not show it very well...the curved piece is quite thick...in a semi-circle...so it needs to be quite thick...so I may need to cut it from a thick block rather than try to bend it but as I have not worked with the stuff before..I need to see what it can do...

Thanks again all.

Jim

 

[Lons]

Hi Jim

I did have an offcut of an off white from a job I did last year. Don't know if it's still there or was thrown away. It was 12mm and I think you'll struggle to get anything thicker though it's easy to laminate especially if you can scrounge some colour match glue.

As advised, a local fabricator is your best bet and you might get some installers off the internet if you do a google. good luck with Dupont - I found them difficult to deal with.

Bob

 

[jasonB]

Try this distributor, its who my fabricator used.

http://www.cdukltd.co.uk/

J

 

[jimi43]

Hi Bob and Jason

Thanks guys...I have received a reply this morning from Nationwide Worktops who are sending samples! Very impressed! It's things like response times which make you choose a supplier when you need them for big jobs...they even offered to do an accurate quote!

It's raining in blocks this morning so will not venture further than the workshop and also I have one of our brethren visiting this afternoon so have to go clean up the workshop enough to be able to get in there! :mrgreen:

So...if I can't get a thick enough block I can join it where it folds under the curved brass front...what's the best glue to stick it with that I might have? Will PVC window bonding glue work or Araldite. I don't really want to buy a tub of the real stuff..it kind of defeats the idea if you spend twice as much on glue than you did on the furniture! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[jasonB]

You are unlikely to find an offcut thicker than the usual 12mm unless you want to buy a sheet.

I've stuck small parts with superglue without a problem. Have a go at the thermo forming, I did the box below by heating in the oven and then vacing it over a former

J

 

[Lons]

Hi Jim

You need a 2 part epoxy to stick it properly IMO. I haven't used std araldite but have used one of the araldite 2000 range which is almost the same as the pucker stuff but minus the colour match powder. It isn't cheap though.

If you look at a corian kitchen worktop you'll almost certainly find it's 12mm bonded to mdf or similar and with a laminated front edge. The join should be vitually invisible if properly formed, clamped and glued with colour matched adhesive.

I don't fit corian though have repaired and altered a number of times but regularly fit mistral now (same but 25mm thick and smaller range of colours).

I could have stuck the bits for you had you lived near as I have some off white adhesive.

Bob

 

[jimi43]

Jason...that bureau (?) is superb! Is that spalted holly? I thought it might be thermoplastic...I will try that. Bonding is no problem as I will use Araldite as Bob suggests but down the centre so it is behind the brass and doesn't need to be invisible...it just needs to be strong enough to pull.

Cheers for the offer of help with the bonding Bob....most appreciated.

Jim

 

[jasonB]

Its just a small box in spalted sycamore that I felled & dried myself. Few more pics here as you can see I started making one with a laminated and veneered top but have not got round to finishing it yet.

J

 

[jimi43]

Its just a small box in spalted sycamore that I felled & dried myself. Few more pics here as you can see I started making one with a laminated and veneered top but have not got round to finishing it yet.

J

That is the strange thing about the human brain...without reference objects...it settles on what it first sees...of course it's a small box Jimi....DOH!! (homer)

Whatever, it is beautiful....mmm...workshop....pens....idea! \/

Jim

 

[jimi43]

Well...I am suitably impressed on a number of counts....

Firstly...National Worktops will definitely get my business should I ever need a large quantity of this stuff...which is highly likely as it is superb stuff to work...not sure it would be for hard use surfaces but splashbacks and the like...wonderful!

Secondly...Corian cuts and works beautifully...and is non-toxic...so no worries cutting and sanding...

...and lastly...I will never ever get rid of my Burgess cheapo three wheeled, Tuffsaw armed bandsaw...

I tried cutting it thick and bending it with heat but it snapped...too acute an angle so I thought...hey...how hard can it be to cut out one go...it will be 12mm instead of 16mm as the original was but I thought I would try it...

Now bearing in mind that I am using a £10 bootfair bargain saw...darn, the blades cost more than that...this ain't a bad facsimile!

Did the width difference make much odds...well yes you can see it but I doubt if anyone would notice that much...

....and since it's going back to the bootfair this Saturday to a dealer I know..who will pay £60 for this any day of the week...it's a six fold profit...a great learning exercise...and I now know what to use if I ever need to replace ivory inlay again! I can see a few guitar bridges coming on soon!

I want to keep it...to put my planes in...but even I think it's a bit posh for that!

Anyway...a huge thanks to all the people who posted advice...I have never used Corian before but I will be again...that's a cert!

Now...I'm off to wax it now the French polish has hardened...slip a leather insert in the top and we are done!

Cheers

Jimi

 

[Lons]

Jimi

Looks great!!

keep an open mind on the corian front as there are quite a number of makes now on the market which are virtually identical composition and some of which are more easily available.
Dupont, in an attempt to retain market leadership in the kitchen worktop market won't supply (there are ways around it) to maintain exclusivity unless the installer has attended one of their courses. They instill an air of mystery and difficulty when in fact any competant woodworker on here would have no difficulty working the material.
The brand I use most is Mistral which only has a dozen colours but comes 25 and 12mm thicknesses. (pic is the one I chose for my own kitchen)

Kitchen installers are a good source of free material as the sink and hob cutouts are often skipped so worth checking out locally. It is BTW excellent for hard surfaces as though it will scratch, can be repaired and fairly easily polished out.

cheers

Bob
..

 

[jimi43]

Very nice Bob....I need to remodel my kitchen (or another house kitchen if I move) soon so that is something I will definitely be considering.

I found that Micromesh worked very well on it giving a polish akin to the original so I can easily see that it would be repairable should it be damaged in any way. I have a design I saw at Ightham Mote which I am considering copying....

...it was in lead so obviously not using that material but a grey Corian type material would be fantastic...

Strangely the hotel I manage is going to have a complete 60 room refurbishment in a month's time and I had a project planning meeting with the contractor today and they are going to use Corian for the vanity and bath splashes...I doubt if any of the off-cuts will get as far as the skip! :mrgreen: :wink:

Cheers for your help

Jim

 

[jasonB]

I doubt the off cuts will even get to site, it will all be made up at the fabricators and just fitted on site, maybe a slight bit of scribing at the most.

You can certainly do a lot with the stuff, this is one I made the templates for and had fabricated.

Handles look good, you do need to get it quite hot to be able to bend, deffo hot enough to need gloves.

J

 

[jimi43]

No...I checked...the project manager said they are cutting to template on site...they have all the gear to do it...

(I checked this first!) So...looks like bonanza off-cut time in September! It will only be white though...the decor is pure white...

I'm thinkng this would make a fantatic router fence!

Jim

 

[jasonB]

They cut the template on site and send that to the fabricator, standard practice for corian, granite etc the finished top then comes back to site all ready to drop in place and maybe a few precut joints to be bonded but unlikely for a bathroom.

To actually fabricate on site is very rare. The sheet needs cutting to oversize, edge and basin need nonding to teh top and the MRMDF backing bonding to the underside. It all then gets trimmed to the template defore sanding to the required finish. Oh and you want to see the mess it makes when you route the stuff just like confetti but being plastic it sticks to everything with the static.

J

 

[jimi43]

Ah ok...well I'll let you know in that case...they are actually ripping out existing Corian too...so one way or another............!

Jim