Corian inserts

[Larry Turner]

I picked up several pieces of corian at a local cabinet shop and plan to make some zci for my table saw. I aslo thought about making a router plate out of the corian. Has anyone done this and will it support the weith of the router?

[Jim Becker]

Larry, I would be concerned that the Corian (or similiar material) would not be stiff enough to be used as a router table insert. Even some of the phenolic ones bow a little over a heavy router.

[David Wilson]

Larry, I have been using a piece of 3/4" corian for mounting a M12V Hitachi router with no problems.

[Jim Becker]

Larry, I have been using a piece of 3/4" corian for mounting a M12V Hitachi router with no problems.

I was thinking of the more common 1/2" when I originally commented. 3/4" or better yet, 1" (two layers of 1/2" laminated) would be quite strong and still not cause much depth issues if you routed out the area for the base to mount, leaving only that area at 1.2".

[Jim DeLaney]

I was thinking of the more common 1/2" when I originally commented. 3/4" or better yet, 1" (two layers of 1/2" laminated) would be quite strong and still not cause much depth issues if you routed out the area for the base to mount, leaving only that area at 1.2".

That's exactly what I did. My entire router table top is Corian - 24" X 32". The center, where the router is mounted, is half an inch thick. The remainder of the table is 1¼ thick. Top, with it's cherry edge banding, weighs about 60 pounds. Believe me, that sucker is solid!

[jerry cousins]

larry - funny you should mention that - this past weekend i just milled up 3 corian ts inserts. rough cut with a saber saw and then flush trimmed on a shaper - kinda makes a plastic mess around the shop. they are just 1/2" and plan to get some glue to fasten on some "stubs" where it rests in the ts throat.
but no problem making them.

jerry

[Larry Turner]

Jerry
Why di you rough cut with sabre saw. Why not cut exact width on the ts then rout the ends. As to the stubs, I was thinking about inserting a screw and cut the head off. I bought one insert and the stub was a small piece of metal rod. Any opinions?

[Doug Jones]

Jerry
Why di you rough cut with sabre saw. Why not cut exact width on the ts then rout the ends. As to the stubs, I was thinking about inserting a screw and cut the head off. I bought one insert and the stub was a small piece of metal rod. Any opinions?
set screws are real easy to apply. Also a breeze to adjust.

[jerry cousins]

larry - i had made a plywood template from the original metal insert and have been using that to reproduce wooden insertsi. using double sided tape - put the roughed out piece on the template and then use a pattern bit on the shaper. never really thought about cutting the width with the table saw - since i was using the shaper. just feels like 1 operation is better than 2 - i think???


good idea about using screws - but wouldn't cut the heads off - so you could do any adjustments.

jerry

[Steve Clardy]

I just use a short 1/2" finish nail for the stub that holds the insert in on the far saw of the blade.

[Ken Dolph]

My main router table has been a slab of 1/2" Corian for 10 years. Still flat. Don't worry about laminating.

I hope this helps
Ken