Anybody have experience with Corian?

[Randall J Cox]

I acquired a small slab of what I believe to be Corian, approx. 1/2" thick. I was going to make some 0 clearence inserts out of it for my table saw. My question is will Corian machine like hard wood with my woodworking tools? Will it hurt carbide router bits or carbide table saw blades? Can I cut it on my bandsaw which does not have carbide teeth or will it ruin the blade? Anybody have any experience with this stuff? Randy

[Aaron Rosenthal]

A plastic countertop material, which I used to cut with a jigsaw and smoot with a router bit. Years ago and (blush) had to use black market because I was never certified. Shhhh.
Look up the web site. It'll probably be ok. I never cut it with a table saw, but I'd be tempted to try it with a band saw.

[Ole Anderson]

I have cut it with my TS with a fine tooth carbide bit. No problems. Did a whole shower enclosure using 1/4" sheet. I see no reason it wouldn't work fine as a ZCI. It is composed of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate (ATH), a material derived from bauxite ore.

https://www.solidsurface.com/working-with-solid-surface/cutting-routing

[Cary Falk]

I have ZCIs made from corion/solid surface material. Cuts just fine with carbide saw blades and router bits. I roughed out the blank on the bandsaw without issue

[Wayne Lomman]

Used it throughout the 90s when it was new and trendy. Just be aware that it is a brittle material and fails by shattering. I don't recommend it for this application. Use something tougher. Cheers

[Curt Harms]

We installed a Corian countertop and I still have bits and pieces. It'll work with common carbide cutting tools, I tried some on a band saw just to see. It cut fine, I imagine carbon steel blades wouldn't have a long happy life. I've seen table saw and band saw blade inserts made from solid surface materials but imagine plywood or MDF would be a better choice. I've found solid surface materials handy for the bottoms of outdoor wooden items like tables & chairs. I drilled and countersunk holes in bits of Corian and sanded (roughed up) one side. I epoxied and screwed the Corian bits on the bottoms of the wooden legs. It isn't affected by being wet. The places I've used it don't get slid around much but so far so good.

[Matt Day]

I have a corian ZCI and it works pretty good, though plywood is much easier. And cutting corian makes a big mess. Dust everywhere and little white chips that stick to everything. It wasn’t really worth the effort.

Also, corian doesn’t like taking screws, so if you plan to attach a z clip or something to keep it from lifting, or leveling set screws, you have to be very aware of blowout since it’s so brittle. Again, plywood is a lot easier and more forgiving. .

[Zachary Hoyt]

I use corian regularly for banjo and guitar nuts. In that application it is a substitute for bone, and handles very much like it. I cut it with regular bandsaw blades, no problem. It is hard and brittle as has been noted above. I have made my own bandsaw table inserts from 6061 aluminum, it's quite cheap on eBay if you can use small leftover pieces. I cut the aluminum with a retired wood cutting blade on the bandsaw, it works fine but dulls the teeth faster than wood, so i save blades that have begun to pull or wander in wood and use them to cut aluminum and brass much more slowly.
Zach

[Lee Schierer]

My father made new fences for the shaper using 3/4" thick Corian. He did all the machining with woodworking tools. I have cut pieces with my TS using a carbide tipped blade. No ill effects other than snow like powder all over the place.

[Tom M King]

Back in the '80's, before granite became popular, or even available, solid surface countertops were the high end. I still have pieces left over from building kitchens back then, and have used it for all sorts of things, like specialized router bases, templates, jigs, and even built one shooting board out of it. It will dull blades some faster than hardwood, but no instant damage.

[Jim Becker]

Solid surface material like Corian is a dream to work with when it comes to cutting and shaping. It will not hurt your cutters at all. I've been using it on my CNC but break it down on my slider, for example. BTW, it's a great choice for your inserts, too.

[Dick Brown]

I refurbish table saws as a hobby (Us old guys get our kicks in some strange ways!) I use Corian for ZCI's, fence faces on my Biesemeyer clones, and would use it for right side table extensions if it wasn't so hard to come by used. Cuts fine but messy. No bulges between fasteners like UHMW can. Would need support if used for table extension to protect it from impact as it will shatter as noted. For sure smooth and slick. Don't plan on threading it for screws near the edge as it may come back to bite you.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I refurbish table saws as a hobby (Us old guys get our kicks in some strange ways!) I use Corian for ZCI's, fence faces on my Biesemeyer clones, and would use it for right side table extensions if it wasn't so hard to come by used. Cuts fine but messy. No bulges between fasteners like UHMW can. Would need support if used for table extension to protect it from impact as it will shatter as noted. For sure smooth and slick. Don't plan on threading it for screws near the edge as it may come back to bite you.

I would like to use it for a TS fence face to replace theUHMV. How did you fasten it? Could you drill pilot holes and use sheet metal screws or would you need to tap and thread the holes for machine screws?

[Bob Andre]

In my experience cutting and shaping Corian is not a problem. I would NOT use it anywhere where it could be stressed and shatter. Very sharp pieces flying around.

[Dick Brown]

Bernie,
I drilled 7/16" holes with a Forstner bit just deep enough that the heads of self drilling screws with 5/16 hex heads are flush. Then drill a hole big enough through the rest of the Corian that the threaded part of the screw will slide through. Clamp the Corian to the fence in the proper spot, drive the screws with a drill with a torque setting just tight enough to set them and come back and check with a wrench if you think it's needed. This is for1/8" walled rec. tubing.

[Wade Lippman]

I am not sure why everyone says it is brittle. I have some 1/8" and it is very flexible.

I have used 1/2" for ZCIs, drill press tables. Works easily enough.

[John K Jordan]

I've turned corian on the wood lathe. It was easy to turn. I won't post a picture because what I turned was not pretty.

JKJ

[johnny means]

I think it's worth noting that one of the reasons Corian went out of vogue was poor wear resistance.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I've turned pens from Corian with no issues.

[Wayne Lomman]

I am not sure why everyone says it is brittle. I have some 1/8" and it is very flexible.

I have used 1/2" for ZCIs, drill press tables. Works easily enough.
Flexible, yes but it's the way it fails that tells you it is brittle ie it shatters. It is this characteristic that tells me not to use it in this application. Cheers

[John McClanahan]

I use Corian and plane it down to the correct thickness for my Powermatic 66, then shim as needed with small pieces of tape on the bottom side. Once I was changing the saw setup and forgot about the ZCI, the Corian broke when I tilted the blade without harming the blade.

[Curt Harms]

I think it's worth noting that one of the reasons Corian went out of vogue was poor wear resistance.

I suspect another reason is that it winds up being about as expensive as stone installed. I really like it for kitchen counters, it seems durable enough to me and doesn't stain easily. One big advantage IMO is that if the surface did get stained or roughed up, it can be sanded. Granite? Well I've never tried sanding Granite but I'm ....... skeptical;). I guess something like soapstone can be refinished somewhat easily.

[Keith Outten]

I have purchased Corian sheets probably in the neighborhood of $200,000.00
I have dye-sublimated it, routed it, thermally bent it, sawed it, resawed it, drilled it, tapped it, turned it on a lathe, polished it, and laser engraved it.
I have used it for sled runners, jigs, fixtures, sign fabrication, bath fixtures and sink tops, counter tops and a long list of other applications.
There are Corian scraps and project drops everywhere you look in my shop and about $4,000.00 of Corian inventory in my barn.

It will work fine as a ZCI for your table saw, scroll saw, band saw, etc. When you cut Corian just go slow, about half the speed you would use cutting wooden materials and your bits and blades will last a very long time.

My Corian Sign Gallery is Here. (https://sawmillcreek.org/album.php?albumid=719) This is just a small sampling of the sign projects I have designed and fabricated using Corian.

[Randall J Cox]

Sounds like its very workable in the woodworking environs, I will use it. If it shatters on me I'll let you know (as long as its not by me doing something dumb).
Thanks for all the great comments. Randy

[Harry Niemann]

Don't know why you would need something this hard for an insert. I have used laminate flooring very successfully for this.

[Keith Outten]

I'm sure that there is a very long list of materials that are suitable for this task that surely includes laminate flooring and a variety of wood species. You might remember many years ago that Craftsman table saws had a yellow plastic insert in front of the blade so you could mark both sides of the blade which made it easier to line up a variety of cuts. This is also true for materials like Corian, the light colors have great contrast and are easy to use when making a variety of marks used to line up cuts and other techniques.

If I had to pick my favorite material for a ZC insert I would prefer Corian and my second choice would be Ultra High Density plastic because it won't break and its a very slick material...but you can't make any kind of reliable mark on UHD plastic and in that vein its not as appropriate a material as Corian. FWIW I prefer Corian top router tables for lots of reasons even though I own two custom machined precision steel router table extensions for my table saw. I expect that one reason I have such a preference is that over several decades I am used to placing pencil marks on tops when the need arises even if its just a quick note or instruction for my next machining step. When Corian is polished and given a coat of paste wax it is very slick and lumber slides across the surface with almost zero resistance.

Obviously Corian is only one brand of solid surface material available. There are other manufacturers but based on my personal needs I tend to stay with Corian because I am accustomed to how it engraves, sublimates and machines.

[Wade Lippman]

I've turned corian on the wood lathe. It was easy to turn. I won't post a picture because what I turned was not pretty.

JKJ
I glued up a bowl blank, but threw it out because the glue line was so conspicuous.

[Peter Quinn]

it makes nice fences, not a pleasure to to work with from a dust perspective, its smells like skunk. Wouldn't be my preference for ZCI's given the alternatives. Take a piece of phenolic, drop it on the concrete floor, pick up the undamaged phenolic and use it. Take a piece of solid surface, drop it on the concrete floor....pick up the pieces, discard, get some phenolic! I don't like brittle things tied up with sharp spinning whirly things that can drive a cutoff down into any small gap that develops between blade and plate. We keep one old panel saw blade for cutting it, it dulls the high ATB's used for veneered plywood and makes them instantly less effective on delicate veneers. My perspective, its great at what its good for but sub optimal as a ZCI given the host of alternatives.