Corian and ZCI, or anything else.....

[Justin Jump]

So my neighbor was demo'ing his kitchen, and asked me to help carry out the refridgerator, I of course said yes, it will cost you 4 beers.

After 6 beers, we got around to carrying out the refrigerator, however, I noticed that he had corian countertop, and I asked him what he was doing with it, and he said nothing, he was going to smash it up.

So I got 2 pieces, one just about 10' long minus the sink cutout, and the other 4' long. I broke the 10' piece in half though.

I did search and read that regular carbide tools can machine corian. Should I get some other router bits and ts blades to cut this stuff, or will my good use stuff handle it fine?

Will a band saw blade cut it? Router bits?

I also got all of the 4" tall backsplash, and this is just a bit bigger than my insert on my ridgid table saw, should make good ZCI.

THX

[Dave Zellers]

Carbide saws and router bits work fine- use new or nearly new ones, not dull ones.

And don't breathe the dust.

[Ellen Benkin]

Regular woodworking carbide tools will work, but they will get dull quickly. If you have some "beaters", try them first or at least plan to have the tools resharped after you work on the Corian. Corian is great material and you can sand out any scratches but dings are there for life. Where do you plan to use this material?

[Keith Outten]

You can cut Corian on your band saw, in fact you can resaw it as well. Go slow, this applies to cutting, drilling, routing, etc.
Corian makes a fine ZCI and there is a whole lot more you can do with it in your shop. Use the search here, you will find plenty of information.
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[Keith Outten]

Ellen,

You can easily repair dings in Corian. Just about any type of damage can be repaired and you will never know it was ever damaged. A router and some Dupont adhesive are your friends. In my shop carbide router bits and saw blades last longer working with Corian than with wood.

GO SLOW!!!!!
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[Dick Brown]

Love Corian for zci's. Made a Beisemeyer clone fence a while back and used it for the faces. Very nice!!! Watching to find more.

[Justin Jump]

@ Ellen.....

For now, the only thing I really have planned are ZCI's from the 4" tall back splash.

For the full sheets, I may plan a router table top based off of the NYW roter table plans, but not really sure what to use the rest of the stuff for.

[Myk Rian]

Bird houses/feeders. Won't rot.

[Wade Lippman]

I have used it for ZCI, drill press tables, and router tables. It works pretty easy.

[Michael Mayo]

Recently made some ZCI inserts for my TS3650 and they work awesome. Actually was easier to make out of Corian than the hardwood ones i previously made.

[Curt Harms]

If you need to glue the stuff and aren't expecting invisible joints, system 3 5 minute epoxy seems to bond it just fine.

[Jamie Buxton]

Compared to wood, corian is annoying stuff. It is just plastic, with none of the beauty of wood. The one big advantage the stuff offers is that it is completely unaffected by water. Use it in homebuilding projects where water would damage wood. Kitchen counters are are great example. Vanity tops. Patio furniture.

[Dave Cav]

I'll bet it would make pretty good runners for a TS sled, too.

[Brian Ross]

I fabricate solid surface counter tops using a comparable product and there are numerous manufacturers of solid surface material. Corian was the first and for a long time had the market cornered. If you know the color of the countertop there are specific colour matched adhesives for each color of corian. The post mentioning that dings can not be fixed is incorrect. The one advantage of solid surface material over the others is that by people that know what they are doing it is an easy and inexpensive fix.

Brian

[Curt Harms]

I'll bet it would make pretty good runners for a TS sled, too.

Maybe, but I'd want to round any sharp corners off. The stuff seems pretty brittle and may be prone to chipping. I suspect it'd make a pretty nice router table top though.

[Keith Outten]

Curt, you have to at least hit the sharp corners with a file or sandpaper, solid surface material can cut you as quick as a knife.

Jamie, I disagree with your opinion concerning solid surface material.
It makes fabulous signs.
Its great for shop jigs.
It's the best router table top I ever used including steel and cast iron.
Table tops can be designed that are just beautiful and more serviceable than wood.
Yo can heat it and bend it into complex shapes.
You can dye-sublimate color photographs into solid surface materials.
Corian pens hold up well and are not affected by oil from your hands.
I could go on for hours with this list...........
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[Ellen Benkin]

Ok, everyone who can fix Corian dings. I have the sink and I dropped a knife in it and it made a small chip/ding. I asked an installer about fixing it but it seems the sink can't easily be fixed but it can be replaced. Do you have any solutions that don't involve replacements? I do know the countertop can be repaired and I have the sink cutout material to use if I ever need it, but this ding is in the sink.

I also used the product for a router table top and it works great.