Sources for corian/solid surface material, stone or glass tiles for trivets, etc?

[Ken Platt]

Folks - I wanted to make a couple of trivets with stone, corian, or perhaps glass tiles set into the top. I would think that such items would be widely available, but I am having difficulty finding sources other than those selling bulk tiles for flooring and so forth. I have previously found circular marble tiles (which I've used for circular trivets), but wanted to make some rectangular, casserole-dish size trivets. Thanks -

Ken

[Darryl Hazen]

Find a contractor that does counter tops. They may let you have the scraps which in some cases include the sink cutouts.

[Keith Hankins]

My wife does stained glass to complement my woodworking. What kind of tiles are you looking for. Custom, colors, etc. Let me know

[Art Mann]

If you are looking to buy small pieces of Corian or similar, you can try here: http://solidsurface.com/ Sink cutouts are great if you can find the colors and patterns you are looking for. I got lucky and found a 1/2" X 32" X 12' sheet of Corian that looks like black marble for $50 at a Habitat for Humanity "Restore". I have seen this type of material at the Restore in the past but didn't realize how much it was worth. You may want to try there it there is a Habitat for Humanity in your community.

[Curt Harms]

I haven't tried Corian or other solid surface material for trivets but I'd be skeptical. Corian can be thermoformed so will soften if heated above a certain temp. Would trivets go above the critical temp? I don't know but I'd probably go with stone tiles cut to size.

[Bill White]

You don't EVEN want to use Corian for a trivet.
Bill

[Ken Platt]

Thanks for the tips and so forth. I guess I'd thought that corian was ok with heat. Anyhow, boy that stuff is pricey, so I'll keep looking around for stone. I have a couple pieces of slate coming from Lee Valley, but would appreciate any other tips on suppliers for stone pieces in the size range of a tile. Thanks,

Ken

[Curt Harms]

How about stone floor tiles? Something along this line:

http://www.homedepot.com/s/granite%2520floor%2520tile?NCNI-5

You'd probably need a way to cut to size.

[Mark Wooden]

I have a couple of Corian pieces I use on my counters for various things, including trivets. There's no problem with using it for putting hot dishes and cookware on it, it takes a lot more heat than cooking temps to deform or burn it IME. It also works much easier than stone or tile; it can be cut, shaped, sanded with regular (carbide tipped) tools and machines. If it gets scuffed, scratched etc., you can usually just sand and polish it out. Go ahead and get some and try it out.
Not to say tile, glass and stone aren't great also, but they realy take a more specialized set of tools to work with them, an angle grinder only goes so far. ;)

[Ken Platt]

Curt, I wouldn't mind trying such stone tiles but I've only seen them for sale by the box, and I don't want that many. Also, floor tile tends to look like, well, flooring. I guess I'd hoped to find sites that sold various types of actual stone in flat, thin-ish configuration. I might wander over to HD though and see if they have any open boxes they'd sell me 1 or 2 from.

FWIW, I tried one kitchen place, and the guy there said that they give the customer any leftover corian and tell them to keep it in case future repairs are needed. Doh!

Ken

[James Baker SD]

one replyer said corian can tolerate the heat. Since I am thinking of doing something similar, does anything know if you can slice foods (vegetables, breads) on it or will you leave a myriad of small cuts until it looks terrible?

[Mark Wooden]

You will cut it up and it will get pretty scuffed after a while using it as a cutting board. But, you can sand it smooth again. Best bet is to get some disposable cutting sheets to cut on.