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TAMI WILSON
08-04-2014, 7:48 PM
Lasered my first corian, with a paper mask, after lasering I blew the letters out with my air compressor then spray painted. The paint is not sticking as the air compressor must not have removed all the corian dust. It seemed to be a bit sticky.

Is there a better way to remove the dust before painting?



Tami

Bill George
08-04-2014, 8:10 PM
Just wondering what brand of spray paint? I have tried not to purchase RustOleum as it takes forever to dry and sometimes just won't stick. Krylon is what I use for most steel and wood projects.

Gary Hair
08-04-2014, 10:38 PM
I would scrub it with a brush and some soapy water. Last big corian project I had was 8 pieces that were 18" x 18" and hundreds of names. I lasered, scrubbed, and paint filled with acrylic paint. I used a credit card blank to scrape away most of the paint and then after it was dry I wet-sanded it using progressively finer sandpaper until I got to 1200. Much easier than using a paper mask and much faster as well.

Mike Null
08-05-2014, 7:36 AM
My method uses a paper mask. I use compressed air to blow out the dust, roll the mask after engraving with a wall paper roller and then spray it. I then use a credit card as a scraper. It can then be polished and there is no need to sand. (the wall paper roller is better than a squeegee to press the paper down.)

294208294209

Brian J Rogalny
08-05-2014, 8:18 AM
Nice work Mike!

Ross Moshinsky
08-05-2014, 11:27 AM
I use the router on Corian most of the time because it's just much much faster but here is what I do.

Engrave. Blow out the dust. Wipe with DNA. Blow out the dust. Paint with essentially any rattle can. I use Ace brand a lot but I haven't had any issues with any of the quick drying variety. Then sand starting at 80 grit and going up as high as I want/need. This method works best with light color Corian. The only issue I've found is when you get up to a very fine grit (1000+) the dust will stick to the paint and it's a real pain to get it out. Now I just stop at 220 grit.

Dark Corian, you're much better off using a paint mask because it's a lot of work to get the surface finish right.

Keith Outten
08-05-2014, 12:13 PM
Tami,

I rarely use a masking material for Corian. I try to use Ace Hardware paint when I can because it dries fast and doesn't load up my sandpaper near as bad as other brands.

Cleaning Corian dust before painting is usually done with a brush for larger plaques and if I have a large number of plaques or sign blanks to clean I use a pressure washer. For very small detail the pressure washer is about the only way to get into the tiny engraved areas.

http://www.northwindassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/nwa_corian_sign.gif

Kev Williams
08-05-2014, 2:23 PM
Spray paint and sand? We hardly ever engrave anything that CAN be sanded afterwards. And the only time I spray paint is when doing reverse-engraved laminate that doesn't need sanding.

Paint is always put in with a brush and squeegie. To remove the smearing after the paint dries involves a 3x4x1" thick piece of plex with some used cotton sheet wrapped tightly around it and dampened with a little DNA, and used like a sanding block. Just add a little more DNA and move the cloth around a bit as needed. Quickly removes the paint smears and does nothing whatsoever to the surface. The only catch is, the engraving must be a little deeper than 'superficial'.

Brian J Rogalny
08-06-2014, 7:38 AM
294269Engraved corian, acrylic paint squeegied on than polished with 4000 grit Festool Platin

Keith Outten
08-06-2014, 12:59 PM
Brian,

Nice work. I like the colors and the designs.

TAMI WILSON
08-07-2014, 5:52 AM
Keith,

is that just a regular palm sander? what grit are you using?

tami

Keith Outten
08-07-2014, 6:40 AM
Tami,

In the animated gif I'm using a Porter Cable 333 random orbital sander with 80 grit paper. Signs for commercial buildings, particularly ADA signs have to have a matte finish and 80 grit paper is perfect for Corian. When i need a glossy finish I use Trizac wet sanding disks from 3M.

The animated gif was made during one of our ADA classes here in my shop as a demonstration how fast you can create a simple sign. It took about ten minutes to CNC machine, paint and sand the plaque. Add another ten minutes for the paint to dry and it was 20 minutes from start to finish.
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Darryl Hazen
08-07-2014, 9:54 AM
Since you used your air compressor, is it possible the air contains oil particles? You might try using canned air to see if the problem is still there. Just a thought.

TAMI WILSON
08-08-2014, 8:37 PM
Keith

I read on another post that you can cut 1/4" corian in 2 passes with your 80 watt machine. I just tried 14 passes with my 80 watt machine and it still did not go through. The white stuff you sent me a piece of when I ordered my CD's that was corian was it not?

Tami

Neal Schlee
08-10-2014, 8:13 PM
We laser lots of Solid Surface material that we CNC cut to shape then polish. We mask then laser engrave. I like to use a 1.5" FL lense on Solid Surface material. Blow the part off with compressed air after lasering then spray paint with 2-3 coats, let dry then peel mask.

Neal

TAMI WILSON
08-10-2014, 9:31 PM
Neal

beautiful, wish i had a cnc. :-)

tami

Keith Outten
08-11-2014, 6:59 AM
Keith

I read on another post that you can cut 1/4" corian in 2 passes with your 80 watt machine. I just tried 14 passes with my 80 watt machine and it still did not go through. The white stuff you sent me a piece of when I ordered my CD's that was corian was it not?

Tami

Tami,

Sorry, I can't remember the settings I used to vector cut Corian. It must have been awhile back. I will do another test ASAP and let you know what my settings are.

The first time I tried to cut Corian I used the 60 watt Xenetech in the CNU sign shop. I was able to cut 1/2" thick Corian but the edges were pretty bad after several passes. On the Trotec the cut quality was better but not a high enough quality edge to use for any kind of production work. I do remember that the 1/4" thick Corian cut much better. Although I own a CNC Router I was experimenting with the laser to see if it was possible to cut Corian in case I had to cut fine details for very small signs.

I can't remember what I sent you but it was most likely Corian.
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Matt McCoy
08-11-2014, 2:38 PM
Tami: You might check out the Shapeoko 2.

Ross Moshinsky
08-11-2014, 2:50 PM
My honest opinion is that when it comes to Solid Surface materials, CNC >>>>>>>> laser. Granted I have a low power laser, but the CNC is WAY faster. The only time the CNC comes up short is on logos.

TAMI WILSON
08-11-2014, 4:03 PM
Tami: You might check out the Shapeoko 2.

Matt what software do you use to run these things?

tami

Matt McCoy
08-11-2014, 4:56 PM
Hey Tami,

CAD: Illustrator or Inkscape

CAM: Makercam/Universal G Code Sender

The open-source Easel is really coming along too for those that want to dive in and just make stuff!

Click workflow on the Shapeoko website to see the available software stacks or check out Inventables for some premium options.