Corian Smoother

[Matt Benton]

After seeing David Gilbert's corian router plane, I thought it would be fun to see how corian translated into a more traditional bench plane. I've been planning to build my first plane for a few months now, and figured, why not.

This is 1/2" material laminated with plastics epoxy from Ace Hardware (cheapo stuff). It is bevel up with the bed in the 30 degree range (don't have a way to measure for sure). Add some 1/4" stainless rod and my LN LA jack iron, and I was good to go. Measures about 9" long, 3" wide and 2" tall.

The weight is no doubt a good thing. Heavier than any exotic I have every picked up. Others who work with corian will know better, but it seems a bit brittle for bench planes, although the weight and stiffness are definitely what you want.

I only used it a few times, and the sole seems to scratch. Not sure how well it would hold up to regular use.

The bed ended up a little out of square, as I kind of rushed through this, so the iron extends farther on one side than the other.

I roughed up the bed with 50 grit, and the iron doesn't move at all, which surprised me.

The sharp corners are quite uncomfortable. Rounding the corners would make it much more comfortable. Overall, I think its a good material for a plane. The only concerns I have are what would happen if it were dropped (I'll probably test this later) and how the sole wears over time. It could also get a little heavy during prolonged use, but this could be somewhat mitigated through design.

[Ron Petley]

Cool! Like Steampunk, I would say this should be called Neanderpunk, the past and present blended together. And you are on the cutting edge with the first Neanderpunk plane:D.
Cheers Ron.

[David Gendron]

I'm sorry, It is prety... ugly;)! But more important, how does it work! Are you gona refine the shape of it? What kind of blade did you used! Keep us inform!

[Matt Benton]

David,

I used the 2" A2 blade from my LN LA jack. 25 degree bevel up, making angle of attack around 55 degrees.

I doubt I'm going to give it much more effort. I'd have to re-work the bed to get it square, and I don't think there's much opportunity for adjustment at this point.

Given how stable and heavy corian is, it seems the only potential drawback is its durability. I'm going to round the edges and test how easily the corian chips/breaks when dropped, as well as during regular use.

If the durability ends up being as big an issue as I'm guessing it will, I think Michael Faurot's lead sled will be the way to go.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=95996&highlight=lead+sled

[Matt Lau]

You've got to post a picture of the shaving!

[Matt Benton]

Well, as David noted, it's not the most attractive plane you've probably ever seen. Doubt I'll be giving Ron B. a run for his money anytime soon :).

Therefore, I didn't feel too bad giving it some good whacks on the concrete floor, on one of the corners. I was hitting it on the floor pretty hard, and the corner depressed slightly, but I was surprised how hard I had to hit it to cause it to chip, about a dime-sized chip at the corner.

Based on this, I feel like, particularily with rounded edges, it would be pretty difficult to damage a corian plane during normal use, and dropping it from bench height would probably cause a very small depression at worst...

[Doug Shannon]

With Corian the edges are a big deal, and if they are sharp they'll chip and crack. Round them off with a large-ish radius and they'll be fine. It's tough though. To demonstrate to my father in law I took a 12x3 piece of half inch, and roundly beat it against the top of a brick wall. Hardly even left a mark.

As far as the sole goes it probably will scratch but it'll be a sight easier to lap back to smooth and flat than any iron plane base...

Written from long experience with worktops and the like. Corian is a fantastic material in my opinion and I like using it in built-ins. It has so much design potential, if perhaps not for the purist.