How do you turn Corian??

[Jim Slovik]

I saw on the penturners site that someone had Corian squares for sale. I was going to give pendants a try so I thought that I might try a Corian pendant. The problem is, I don't know what it takes to turn Corian. Can someone enlighten me?
Thanks,
Jim

[Ray Binnicker]

Hey Jim,
Use the same tools you use on wood or acrylics. I tend to turn acrylics and/or Corian faster than wood; mainly they are usely smaller pieces, and, faster seems to leave smoother finish.
P.S. "Sharp, Sharp and Sharper tools".
Ray Binnicker

[David E Keller]

Ditto... Sharp and fast. It's really not too bad to turn.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Sharp and fast. Becareful drilling. If you use a dull bit or go too fast it will blow out.

[BILL DONAHUE]

Turn the lathe speed up and it turns even easier than most woods. I have found that it's best to use a brad point drill bit and go easy on the pressure.

[Dolan Brown]

+1 on the above comments. I have turned several Corian pendants recently. I use a bowl gouge to turn them and brad point bits to drill holes. They polish up nicely.

Sometimes Lowes will give you their discountinued Corian samples. They are 2" x 2".

Good luck.

[Mac Carlton]

corian tends to fill drill bits so clean out often.also when sanding keep paper moving corian will melt if it gets to hot. I wet sand corian but you don't have too. turning - fast and sharp, fun stuff... I also use skew when turning corian.

[Bernie Weishapl]

One thing I do Jim on Acrylics or Corian is the make the blanks about a 1/2" longer. I drill the length of the brass tube but not all the way thru the blank. I then cut it just slightly longer than the tube. That way you can square the end and don't blow your blank out while drilling.

[Jim Slovik]

Thank you everybody. I think I'll order some and give it a try.
Jim

[Aaron Wingert]

A good drilling tip is to use automatic transmission fluid as a lubricant. It helps a lot. Bernie's tip of leaving the blank long is important.

Wet sanding is pretty critical if you want to get a very nice finish. On my corian duck calls I wet sand up to 2000 grit and then use plastic polish to really shine it up.