Gluing Birch Ply to Corian

[Michael Mayo]

I am building a router table and I am using a large piece of Corian I have for the top. But I need to add some thickness to the top for the plan and for rigidity. I have some Baltic Birch Ply I want to attach to the bottom of the Corian. What type of glue is good for attaching plywood to Corian? I think I will also put screws from the bottom of the ply up into the Corian as well to clamp and strengthen the top laminate. Also what is the best way to route a nice radius around the corners of the top? I assume using a radius template with a flush trim bit would be the best way but how do I make the radius template? Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[Michael Mayo]

Guess I should have done a little searching before asking. I found this link to West Systems that states that their normal West System epoxy will glue the plywood to the Corian no problem. The bond will break the laminate before the bond fails. Which is good enough for me.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/bonding-to-corian-and-wilsonart-laminates/

[Sam Murdoch]

Also what is the best way to route a nice radius around the corners of the top? I assume using a radius template with a flush trim bit would be the best way but how do I make the radius template? Thanks in advance for any ideas.

So you got the glue up resolved - though I think you'd find it easier to set your screws through the Corian and into the plywood rather than the other way around - the screws will be most effective that way. Maybe with the West System just clamp your assembly and skip the screws.

As for the radiused corners - simply pick the radius you like, cut that into a 1/2" or 3/4" piece of ply with a bandsaw or saber saw. Fair up the curve so that is smooth. The ply corner should be wide enough in both dimensions so that you can easily clamp it to your table top on 2 edges and leave good clearance to operate the router and run the bit past the corner radius. I encourage using at least a 1/2" ply for the template, even though it may be a bit more work to get a nice smooth radius, so that your bearing has good support. Perhaps you could radius the corners of the plywood subtop - glue up your Corian and the radius the Corian using the subtop as your template. This way you are not driving the router bit through 1-1/2" of material.

[Keith Outten]

Lots of counter top shops use Silicone adhesive to join Corian to plywood. Make sue you purchase Silicone adhesive not the caulking. Before you glue Corian to anything you should clean it with denatured alcohol.
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[Michael Mayo]

Thank you Sam & Keith. Sam I was thinking the same thing while reading your post. That I would just radius the subtop first then do the glue up and after that cures just going back and creating the radius on the Corian using the subtop as the template. Thank you for the idea!