Corian--a valuable resource

[Dennis J Gooding]

It recently occurred to me that there has been scant mention in this forum of the use of Corian in woodturning fixtures, jigs, etc. This is despite the fact that I have used it many times in my own shop. It is available free in many forms as scrap in bathroom installer's shops. The most common form is scraps of half-inch thick sheets. In my experience, some of them will be two square feet or more in size.
Corian is fairly easy to work with. It can be cut on a bandsaw, is easily drilled, tapped or turned. It can be glued with epoxy and many other glues. I have used to make special faceplates, sharpening jigs, reverse turning fixtures, vacuum chucks and more.

 

[Wyatt Holm]

I have used it to make a vaccuum chuck. It is slow to turn with hot shavings.

 

[John K Jordan]

there has been scant mention in this forum of the use of Corian

I agree Corian is great for turning. Sir google tells me it is a mixture of acrylic resin and natural minerals (alumina trihydrate).
Not especially cheap except as scraps from a countertop installer.

In a symposium demo Mark StLeger once turned four identical spheres and set them on a disk of Corian with a circular depression turned in the top near the outside of the disk. When he stacked the spheres they were so perfect that spinning the top one with the fingers makes the entire pyramid of spheres turn. It was an impressive lesson in turning perfect spheres by hand.



I am honored to have this in my display cabinet.
If you don't know Mark, he's an incredibly kind, talented, creative, and soft-spoken turner.

He even brought his kids and grandkids to see my llamas once.

I'd say try to get him to come to your club for a demo but I'm not sure he's still doing demos and symposiums.
JKJ

 

[Tom Albrecht]

It recently occurred to me that there has been scant mention in this forum of the use of Corian in woodturning fixtures, jigs, etc. This is despite the fact that I have used it many times in my own shop. It is available free in many forms as scrap in bathroom installer's shops. The most common form is scraps of half-inch thick sheets. In my experience, some of them will be two square feet or more in size.
Corian is fairly easy to work with. It can be cut on a bandsaw, is easily drilled, tapped or turned. It can be glued with epoxy and many other glues. I have used to make special faceplates, sharpening jigs, reverse turning fixtures, vacuum chucks and more.

Any photos of your above examples?

 

[Bill Boehme]

Corian can also be used to make a hand-chased threaded insert for an urn.

 

[John Torchick]

Considered using Corian for pen blanks but there isn't a countertop retailer in town.

 

[Peter D'Attomo]

Considered using Corian for pen blanks but there isn't a countertop retailer in town.

John, Corian is not a penmakers friend

 

[Bill Boehme]

Considered using Corian for pen blanks but there isn't a countertop retailer in town.

A much better option is to contact a countertop installer. They frequently have leftover scraps of Corian that they will likely give you for free, especially if you promise to make a pen for them.

 

[John Torchick]

A much better option is to contact a countertop installer. They frequently have leftover scraps of Corian that they will likely give you for free, especially if you promise to make a pen for them.

That was my thought. A search come up with several local businesses. Need to call.

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

Considered using Corian for pen blanks but there isn't a countertop retailer in town.

Actually, I made a pen from corian as a gift to the man who gave me the scrap pieces.

 

[Larry Copas]

I replaced a Corian countertop and kept it just to make jigs and fixtures. This is a jig for open segmenting I made with a rotary table on my Bridgeport milling machine. I really like the way it machines.

The biggest downside is that it is brittle and will break quite easily if dropped. My favorite use is making vacuum clamp templates for cutting out parts on my router table.

 

[hughie]

It recently occurred to me that there has been scant mention in this forum of the use of Corian in woodturning fixtures, jigs, etc. This is despite the fact that I have used it many times in my own shop. It is available free in many forms as scrap in bathroom installer's shops. The most common form is scraps of half-inch thick sheets. In my experience, some of them will be two square feet or more in size.
Corian is fairly easy to work with. It can be cut on a bandsaw, is easily drilled, tapped or turned. It can be glued with epoxy and many other glues. I have used to make special faceplates, sharpening jigs, reverse turning fixtures, vacuum chucks and more.

I have used it, generally the scraps are free, although as the demand grows, many are charging for a box of scraps.

 

[Bryan Field]

I have a huge store of Corian offcuts. Because of the thickness I have used for slimline pens. It requires gluing to make any of the thicker pens and often splits down the glue line when drilled.. I have also used it as accents in segmented pens. I have a bunch of jigs, and saw push sticks I have made from it too.

 

[John Torchick]

Bryan, I sold countertops and cabinets for a while. Corian isn't porous as other materials, prohibiting glue to adhere to the surface.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

Proper (manufacturer recommended) gluing of Corian requires their proprietary acrylic adhesive, which smells like the Devil's throne room. Epoxy can work if the surface is abraded but is perhaps not as reliable.

 

[Ric Taylor]

Corian isn't porous as other materials, prohibiting glue to adhere to the surface.

John, you should check out the work of Andy Chen, one of the top segmented turners in the country. Most of his hollow vessels are made with Corian, and all of the segments are glued together with medium CA. I regularly see his pieces that are over 25 years old (and brand-new works also), and there is no movement among the segments and no problems of any kind with any of the glued surfaces. In same-color joins the joins are invisible.

 

[John Torchick]

John, you should check out the work of Andy Chen, one of the top segmented turners in the country. Most of his hollow vessels are made with Corian, and all of the segments are glued together with medium CA. I regularly see his pieces that are over 25 years old (and brand-new works also), and there is no movement among the segments and no problems of any kind with any of the glued surfaces. In same-color joins the joins are invisible.

Are they roughed up with sandpaper before gluing?

 

[Ric Taylor]

Are they roughed up with sandpaper before gluing?

As with any segmented turning, the rings are sanded flat and the segments have light sanding between.