Corian color fill

[Bill Morrison]

I'm making a Trivet out of Corian but was wondering what happens to the color fill when you set a hot pan on it. Will the color fill be ruined? I'm using a 'bot to cut it out since I read Corian is hard to laser & this stuff is 1/2 an inch, then will laser the lettering. Is there an alternative to colorfill or a certain type available? Thanks

[Sandy Henry]

If you can use black, maybe stove pipe / bbq grill paint would work? Just a thought.
Sandy

[Larry Bratton]

If you engraved the lettering in with your cnc, you can fill the Corian with Corian adhesive and then sand it smooth. That's how many people do it. I have engraved it with the laser, painted it with Krylon as fill. I'm not sure it's recommended for that type of application. Corian is a plastic, solid acrylic to be exact.
Quote from Dupont's FAQ
Is Corian® heat-resistant?
We do not recommend placing a hot pot directly on Corian®. Although Corian® remains stable and undamaged in temperatures up to 212ºF (100ºC), high heat or flame will damage your surface. In most cases, this damage can be repaired. To protect your Corian® from heat damage, always use a hot pad or a trivet with rubber feet when using hot pots, or heat-generating appliances like electric skillets or electric cooking pots.

[Belinda Barfield]

I wouldn't recommend using Corian as a trivet for hot items. It will discolor with exposure to high heat. It's basically plastic after all.

[Bill Morrison]

Thanks for the info. Corian is out. I got a bunch of shiny rocks in Oregon I think I'll give her.

[Terry Swift]

I too have been looking for Corian - seems to be a wave of it going around. My interest came from a Scroll Sawers Magazine - who had made trivets from Corian. No mention of not using them for hot stuff. Maybe a bowl of hot potatoes or something on a table may be fine; but not a pot directly off the stove.

I look to you guys who know this stuff better to see the direction to go.:eek:

[Belinda Barfield]

You've got the right idea, Terry. Hot serving bowls are okay. No hot cast iron skillets, etc. From the Corian Care & Cleaning Guide:

"While Corian® withstands heat better than most surface materials, do not place hot cookware directly on a Corian® surface.

To avoid damage caused by excessive heat:
Always use a trivet or hot pad under hot cookware
Always use a trivet with minimum ¼” legs under small electrical appliances
such as fryers and cookers"

So basically, you would need a trivet for your Corian trivet. :D

[Scott Shepherd]

I don't know how hot a dish of string beans is, but I have done several projects that required me to form the corian. It's fairly stable until it get over 300 degrees, at which point it gets soft and easy to bend and shape. I think it's 320 or so, and it's 320 for a while, not 60 seconds or even 5 minutes.

I don't think you'd have a lot of problems with it. Easy enough to try. If I knew what a trivet was, I'd make one and try it :)

[Belinda Barfield]

Steve,

Just my experience . . . intense heat concentrated in one spot on a countertop (like a crock pot or deep fryer) will cause discoloration and possibly cracking of Corian. DuPont also advises that boiling water not be poured directly into a Corian sink. We also do a little thermoforming and haven't had any issues with the entire piece of Corian being heated and cooled at the same rate.

[Dan Hintz]

If I knew what a trivet was, I'd make one and try it :)
It's a little furry, round ball that squeeks.... oh wait, that's a Tribble... nevermind :p

No Tribble at all, Captain...

[Scott Shepherd]

I'll take your word for it Belinda, you have a lot more experience than I do with it. I think I'll give it a try on a piece with a lot of color and see what happens. Just as soon as I know what one of those is :)

[Belinda Barfield]

Here's one thing that has always confused me (one of many) . . . Corian doesn't change color when lasered.

[Dan Hintz]

Belinda,

If you went slooooow and hot with an out-of-focus lens, it would. At focus, you're vaporizing the material, so there's nothing left to change color.

[George D Gabert]

Scott

A trivet is a fancy hot pad for setting things in the table and not damaging the table. Usually some fancy shape with short feet to keep the heat from transferring from the pan to the table surface.

GDG

[Thomas Baranowski]

Here are 2 styles of trivets I've made on my laser ( a Epilog mini 18) The first is a tile cut of .5" Corian, leaving the edge the rough cut to look like stone. The second is a pattern cut of .5" Corian that ended up looking like it was made from Bisque. The pattern cut took a long time and the parts needed to have the cut line cleaned out to assist with the cut.
216844216845

[Chuck Stone]

How about using soapstone?

[Bruce Dorworth]

Where can you get soapstone??? I have looked for it a couple times.

Bruce

[Chuck Stone]

I get mine from the quarry or fish rocks out of the river.
If you can dig you fingernail into it, it's soapstone!
I'd offer to send you some, but I'm sure the shipping would
be more than it's worth

[Belinda Barfield]

Bruce, check with your countertop fabrication shops. They may have remnant pieces.


I'd offer to send you some, but I'm sure the shipping would
be more than it's worth

Chuck, that gave me a chuckle. The last time I bought soapstone slabs we paid something like $35 a square foot for it.

[Chuck Stone]

Chuck, that gave me a chuckle. The last time I bought soapstone slabs we paid something like $35 a square foot for it.

Wow .. When I get it from the quarry, (10 miles from here) they beg me to take
more .. there's probably 100+ tons of cutoffs. (long pieces, but not wide or thick)
Slabs and larger pieces are by the pound, and yes .. it's expensive.
So getting the river rocks is more economical.. but then you have to cut it.
It will cut on a bandsaw, but eats blades. It will cut on a table saw with a
diamond blade, but that limits your thickness.

That's it .. I'm askin Santa for a water jet.

[Belinda Barfield]

It will cut on a table saw with a
diamond blade, but that limits your thickness.

That's it .. I'm askin Santa for a water jet.

In our fabrication shop we cut it with a diamond blade but you can put an edge on it with just a regular router like you would use for wood. Yeah, I'm asking Santa for a water jet, too, but it's for cutting granite.

[Dan Hintz]

That's it, I'm asking Santa to move Chuck and Belinda closer to me...

[Chuck Stone]

Santa said "Only if he lets you play with all his toys"