Use of Corian for Router table top

[Jim O'Dell]

Hi everyone. I have searched the archives, but not found what I'm looking for. I believe that some of you have used Corian for a router top. I have several questions: Did any of you use smaller discards and glue them together to use for your top? Or were you able to find large enough pieces local to you from counter top builders that were decently priced? My design is for a fairly large table (48 inches or so wide) with a removeable front section (same width and about 15 inches deep) for when I need extra support for a large piece like a raised panel for a door so I don't have to balance it as well as feed it through the router, and deep enough to mount an Incra 25 inch Pro 2 Ultra (Needs 27 inches from center of router opening to front of rear mounting plate for maximum use). So table is say, 53 X 38, plus the removeable front section. Will this be virtually impossible to do by Joining 15 X 23 pieces together? (this will also double as an outfeed table for the TS) I keep getting suggestions to use 2 layers of MDF, but I dispise it for it's problems with moisture. Last question, how far appart should the bracing be for this width/length table to help eliminate sag? I'm planning on the top being mounted to a grid of 1.25 to 1.5 inch square tubing, and I'm planning on runners no more than 13 to 14 inches apart. Thanks for your ideas and experiences. Jim

[Dave Hammelef]

Why is water an issue on your router table???
My understanding the concern with corian is chipping/cracking ect when you drop something metal and heavy (router bit, router insert edge, clamp ect) oh ya and cost.

[Jim O'Dell]

Why is water an issue on your router table???
My understanding the concern with corian is chipping/cracking ect when you drop something metal and heavy (router bit, router insert edge, clamp ect) oh ya and cost.
Not water, but moisture. My tools are in the garage, where it is not clmate controlled, therefore when it is raining, it gets very humid in the garage, thus the moisture problem. I have MDF in my van for speaker cabinets...that's fine. But in garage, the left over pieces start to swell over time, and that's bad for a router table. Phenolic would be the best material, but it's at least twice what I can get the Corian for, and I don't think it joins well. Anyway, that's why I'm thinking Corian. But your concern about chipping if something gets dropped on it is a valid one, and is something I hadn't thought of.
Thanks! Jim.

[Jamie Buxton]

Jim --
You can buy corian from http://stonewood.safeshopper.com/. You will have to seam it; DuPont doesn't make it as big as you want.
Me, I don't see the benefit of Corian. I'd use formica on plywood. If you get really fancy, you can put the formica on both faces. Formica (and its cousins) are lots less expensive. It is made in sheets large enough that you won't have to seam it.
For stiffness, there's little need to work in metal. Instead, stick to nice stuff -- that is, wood. Build the surface as a torsion box. It will be very stiff. I have a work table with a torsion box top that is 3" H x 24" D x 60" L. If I load it with 100 pounds in the middle, it sags about .03". If that's not stiff enough for you, make yours thicker. The stiffness goes up with the cube of thickness.

[Dave Hammelef]

Not water, but moisture. My tools are in the garage, where it is not clmate controlled, therefore when it is raining, it gets very humid in the garage, thus the moisture problem. I have MDF in my van for speaker cabinets...that's fine. But in garage, the left over pieces start to swell over time, ... Jim.

My guess is the "left over peices are sitting on the concrete floor and wicking moisture up from the concrete. I dont think the humidity in a garage should be an issue for MDF.

Dave

[Keith Outten]

Jim,

I put a Corian sink cutout (free) on top of my Router Buddy table using just clamps and it works great. My next router table will definately have a Corian top on a steel frame. I made two custom router tables years ago, one for my dad and one for me which a friend talked me out of, now I could use another table. Mine were welded steel frames and I used 3/8" thick aluminum plate with laminiate for the top surface. The table was large enough to mount two routers and I machined a counterbore to fit my template guides. The tops were abrasive lapped until perfectly flat. Ten years later my dads table is still dead-on accurate (flat).

[Dale Thompson]

Sorry to be a wet blanket but I looked into Corian a year ago when I was planning a new kitchen. My conclusion: Corian is resistant to NOTHING! Heat, moisture, abrasion, etc., are all a problem. PRICE!? HA!! Try to get one!!

In my humble opinion, Corian is good for only TWO things! A Real Estate Agent can tell her uninformed clients that the counter tops are made of "CORIAN". That is a "catch" word (but so is "granite", which is even worse) for those who want to brag about their wealth. The second reason is that DuPont (Corian) distributors can make enormous profits due to the fact that DuPont has a massive advertising budget. Need I say more?

I'll take MDF, plywood or even particle board and Formica anytime.

Just a simple thought from a simple person.

Dale T.

[Mike Kelly]

Sorry to be a wet blanket but I looked into Corian a year ago when I was planning a new kitchen. My conclusion: Corian is resistant to NOTHING! Heat, moisture, abrasion, etc., are all a problem. PRICE!? HA!! Try to get one!!

In my humble opinion, Corian is good for only TWO things! A Real Estate Agent can tell her uninformed clients that the counter tops are made of "CORIAN". That is a "catch" word (but so is "granite", which is even worse) for those who want to brag about their wealth. The second reason is that DuPont (Corian) distributors can make enormous profits due to the fact that DuPont has a massive advertising budget. Need I say more?

I'll take MDF, plywood or even particle board and Formica anytime.

Just a simple thought from a simple person.

Dale T.


I agree with you Dale. It is a nice surface for some things, only if it has good support (plywood usually). It will definitely sag unless supported well and costs too much for plastic! Formica works great and is cheap. A router table WILL get abuse, at least all of mine have and the formica on the first one is still very servicable. I have a cast iron one that even has a hole in it from a run away router! Don't ask.....

[Glenn Clabo]

I guess to each thier own, eh? We installed Corian AND Granite in our kitchen and absolutely love it. The Corian is scratch resitant, seemless, warm to the touch and we've never had any problem with heat. The granite section gets a real work out by TLOML when she does her pastry thing. For us...it had nothing to do with real estate values or my postion in life.

I still use the left over Corian in the shop for scary sharp work...zero clearance...table tops...it works great.

[Keith Outten]

Although I don't have Corian in my kitchen I have found that free scraps from cabinet shops real handy. Most cabinet shops will give away sink cutouts which are large enough for lots of shop jigs.

My experiemce with Corian is that it stays flat even if left leaning against a wall for months. I use 12" by 24" pieces as an auxillary table in my laser engraver. I can tape just about any material to the Corian slab and engrave and cut on the slab. Perfectly flat is necessary when you are engraving sheet that is only 0.004" thick and removing only the top 0.001".

Corian makes beautiful plaques as it engraves really nice, routes and cuts easy and is great for pen blanks. What's not to like about Corian?

The price...well it isn't cheap but there are lots of other materials that are more expensive when you consider all of the costs involved and the service life of the material. Formica scratches and can't be repaired and will chip easilly, not exactly a superior product in any way. I have formica counter tops in my kitchen but would prefer Corian.

[Jim O'Dell]

Sorry to be a wet blanket but I looked into Corian a year ago when I was planning a new kitchen. My conclusion: Corian is resistant to NOTHING! Heat, moisture, abrasion, etc., are all a problem. PRICE!? HA!! Try to get one!!

Yes, heat is a problem...you don't set hot cooking containers from the stove or oven directly on it. Not a problem on a router table.
Moisture?? I don't get this one. They make sinks and shower enclosures out of this stuff. Please explain.
Price. Yes, it's expensive if you have to go out and buy a sheet of it. Thus my question if anyone knew about piecing together smaller sheets and if I was looking for trouble from that aspect. Like Keith stated, many fabrication shops will give you the sink cut outs, square them up and glue together for a larger surface. Maybe get expressive with the different colors!!
Abrasion? Yes, it is not indestructable. but it is "more" scratch resistant than the other materials you listed, except of course the cast iron!! :D Dents, chips, and scratches are going to happen. no matter what the material.
Thanks Jaime and Keith for your info, too. The torsion box is new to me Jaime..can you point me toward where to get information on how to build it? Keith, even though your test of Corian on a router top was a fairly small section, it is good to know you liked how it worked well enough to want to do a bigger one next rebuild.
Thanks guys, this info is what I'm looking for, good and bad. Is there anyone out there that has actually used it for this type of surface? I would really like to hear your comments, again good and bad.
Jim.

[Jamie Buxton]

Jim ---
I don't know of any recent articles about torsion boxes. I don't know why, because they are such useful devices. Simon Watt wrote a article for Fine Woodworking in the early eighties, and I think its been included in some of the Taunton Press books.
A couple years ago I did a talk about torsion boxes for a woodworking club, and wrote a handout for it. I'll email you a copy of the handout if you'll email me directly. Anybody else who wants it, give me a shout.

Jamei

[Robert Ducharme]

There are some posts in the design forum on torsion boxes.

[Jim O'Dell]

There are some posts in the design forum on torsion boxes.

Robert, thanks for the note. I read both pages on torsion box design in the design forum. Makes great sense. I have acutally used this design before without knowing what it was called. My actual thought of using box steel tubing for the table to sit on is one for strength, but also strength without having to have too much depth and loss of space. I'll play with this idea and see how I might be able to incorporate it into the design. But I may still do the steel. To do so would require I spend some extra time with Dad to get a welding lesson (and to borrow his welder!), and with him at 74, there won't be a lot of years left to do so.
Thanks for all the ideas guys. I really apprieciate it! Keep 'em coming!!! Jim

[Dale Thompson]

Hi Folks,
I apologize for my rant on Corian and Granite yesterday. My experience was that I had four contractors in, two of them brought "Factory Reps", with regard to our kitchen remodeling. I REALLY got "ticked" when I could not get a "ballpark" figure from ANY of them. I mean,my questions were like, "Is it $5 a square foot or $5,000 a square foot?". All I got for answers was -- "Wellll - it depends on blankety, blankety blank". C'mon guys! I'm giving you a pretty wide range! The response: "Wellll - it depends on -------".

I guess that I got so angry that I only read the "down side" of this material and ignored the "up side".

Again, I apologize to all of you for the rant. I really get "ticked" at myself when I do stupid things like that. But, then again, what have you come to expect from me? :o :o

Shamefully, :(
Dale T.

[Keith Outten]

Dale,

I can feel your pain, when your the customer and can't get an answer to a simple question it is definately frustrating. There are service people in every business that don't have a clue :)

[Dale Thompson]

Dale,

I can feel your pain, when your the customer and can't get an answer to a simple question it is definately frustrating. There are service people in every business that don't have a clue :)

Keith,
Thanks! I needed that.

Dale T.

[Glenn Clabo]

Not to worry Dale...frustration and ranting is okay around here. You never attacked anyone here...so it's good for the soul to let it out. Corian and Granite are a hot button in all kitchen design forums. You should see what they say about each other. I did all the work except for the counter which a friend did. I didn't have to deal with wishy washy estimates by the local "experts".

[Jim O'Dell]

Hi Folks,
I apologize for my rant on Corian and Granite yesterday.

No problem from my end Dale. We all have bad days, sorry you had one yesterday. But I still value the dialogue. It's what makes us think. Thinking makes us look at things from different angles. Looking at things from different angles makes us learn. It's called education. I value it!
Sorry you can't get a price from your local people. It would make me look at other options real fast. Jim