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Tony Tyler
10-02-2007, 6:29 PM
I have been doing inlays in Corian for some time. My mom passed away a couple weeks ago. I am thinking of making a corian headstone. I am thinking of an upright slab that is curved, with inlays, engravings and possible a dye sub. The edge of the corian would have the rough stone look and everything else would be gloss or semi gloss. The inside curve would have a bench for people to sit on. My questions are as follows:

1. How to put rough edge on corian? Sandblast? Add resin/ath mix and speckle it on??
2. Weatherability of Corian. I have heard it may get a white powder type deposit over time that is cleanable?? Any other long term weatherabilty concerns for corian?
3. What should the fill of the base and upright slabs be? I am thinking a corian shell for both, with a concrete fill to make a total thickness of 6". My concern is the expansion coefficient of concrete and corian are different. The corian may be completely encased in corian. Should I allow venting at the bottom? I am also concerned about sweating concrete and the freeze that thing inside the corian.
4. How best to incorporate a color image. I don't have any dye sub equipment.

Any feedback would be appreciated...Keith.

Thanks,

Tony

Keith Outten
10-02-2007, 10:22 PM
Tony,

I wil have to give it some thought, there are a number of factors involved with your plan.

Your first issue is easy, you can use an adjustable wrench to break the edges of Corian and it will leave an edge that looks remarkably like stone. It takes a little bit of practice as each side of the edge has to be broken independently but you should be able to get realistic results in a short period of time.

I believe Dupont advertises exterior life at about 30 years, I will check to see if I can find a more definitive answer.

I would prefer to see a sketch before commenting on item three.

Dye-sublimating Corian has a short life expectancy, how short is unknown at this point so there are risks using this technique for this kind of project. A second option is to CNC route the photo using software like Photo V-Carve but it would not be a color photograph. I have seen some very stunning projects done this way.

Let me think about the issues a bit more, possibly others will be able to provide suggestions as well.

You have my deepest sympathy concerning the loss of your Mother. Stay close to your family, they will be your only source of comfort to get you though the days and weeks ahead.

.