Repairing scratches in Corian

[Kent A Bathurst]

Some vandal snuck into the kitchen and left some surface scratches on the countertop while he was repairing a drawer front. :(

I reviewed this recent thread:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?170561-Finishing-Corian-to-a-high-gloss&highlight=CORIAN

My real question is this: do I have a puncher's chance of just taking out the scratches and returning it to "can't really see them" status? They are not deep, but they are a bit wide [1/8" maybe] - light to medium grey-ish top with the little dark flecks in it. The scratches appear whitish.

I am not going to redo the entire countertop. I am not going to simply dig myself a deeper hole by attempting a fix that only makes things worse. Rather that those two options, I'll just stick to the "some vandal did it" story - she ain't buying it, of course, but she's not arguing the point either. Sleeping dogs, and all that............

thanks

kent

EDIT - of course, 24" above the scratches are undermounted fluorescent lights.

[Steve Jenkins]

If you sand it with 220 to get rid of the scratches then put a gray scotchbrite pad on your orbital and go over it with that it should take care of it. You will probably have to sand a fairly large area so it doesn't creat a visible divot.

[Scott Holmes]

A shellac burn-in knife, in skilled hands may be able to fill the scratch.

[Steve Jenkins]

Just had another thought. If you want to test your repair get a piece of scrap corian from a local countertop shop and mess with it.

[Ken Dolph]

If you think that the scratches are too deep to sand out you can try this trick that i have used successfully.

Fill scratches with ordinary baking soda. Apply a drop or two of very thin CA. Dab off any excess and allow to bond for about an hour. San and buff.

The baking soda / CA combination will make a hard tough translucent plastic. The color of the Corian will transmit through it. If you have to high polish it it will be a little shinier.

[Keith Outten]

Try 80 grit sandpaper on your ROS first, then switch to finer grits until the top is smooth. The 1/8" width won't be an issue and if the scratches aren't deep you should be good to go in just a few minutes.
You can purchase a clear adhesive from Dupont, I haven't used it yet but it would probably be an easy way to repair deep scratches.
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