Drilling/Tapping In Corian?

[Derek Arita]

Can I drill and tap a hole in Corian? Special drill? Will it hold threads?

[Richard Coers]

Traditional twist drill and tap will work very well. But will it hold your required torque will be the question since you don't give the purpose of the threads.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The guys in the CNC forum could probably answer this as this material is used in the business a lot.

[Keith Outten]

Ken is right you will find lots of people who use Corian in the CNC and Laser Engraving forums.
I drill and tap Corian sheets frequently, use a sharp drill and tap and go slow. Several years ago I had a customer who ordered dozens of Corian bolts and nuts for some kind of underwater project. The holding power will surprise you.....this is also true of wooden nuts and bolts.

[Curt Harms]

DuPont's Corian installer handbook is available on line. I believe DuPont recommends metal threaded inserts epoxied into a hole.

[Warren Lake]

I always used threaded inserts, several styles available

[Derek Arita]

Thanks so much. I will likely use threaded inserts. Seems the safest and best way.

[Warren Lake]

Derek worth getting a few different samples and test how they go in and how they pull under torque, I think I always epoxied them in as well and ended up with a type that expanded when the screw went in and also put screws in while the epoxy cured so they were loaded.

[Grant Wilkinson]

How much stress do you need the joint to take? I agree with the insert method, but I've made a lot of jigs by drilling and tapping the corian directly and never had a failure. The key seems to be lots of lube on the tap. That said, I don't put a lot of stress on the bolted-together joint.

[Derek Arita]

It won't be too much stress on the screws, however I'd rather over build than under.

[Tom M King]

There are some threaded inserts, intended to be screwed into metal, that have finer threads on the outside than the ones you see for wood. I've found that they work better in some woods than the ones intended for wood. They go into standard tapped hole sizes, and are available in stainless steel. They may work better in Corian when glued in.

What size threaded hole? I could drill, and tap some, and test them to failure with a torque wrench.

[Derek Arita]

Thanks Tom. I think the standard insert with epoxy will work just fine. As I said, I don't expect a great deal of stress on the screws. Also, I won't be cranking down on the screws as they will be holding 1/4" plexiglass. Thanks anyhow!

[Tom M King]

To just hold Plexi, threads in the solid surface will work fine. I wouldn't even bother with inserts. It machines really nicely.

I still might do the test, just for fun. My big torque wrenches have "follow up" needles that hold the max torque reached. I'm just not sure that I have the adapters to go down from 3/4", and 1" drive for machine screws, or small bolts. I just bought a whole set of torque wrenches off CL that go up to 1,500 lbs. The five foot handle fits in that one, and the 800 lb. one. The smallest one with a follow up goes up to 300, so I'm not sure how accurate it is at the lower levels.