Sturdee
1st December 2013, 02:26 PM
Regularly I'm asked questions on how I prepare or turn Corian so may be a more detailed how to is appropriate. Whilst there are many ways of doing things, and no doubt others then mine, I found the following works.
Preparation of the Corian or acrylics.
Both items can be cut with wood working tools as I use a fine toothed TS blade and a bandsaw to cut them to smaller blanks. Corian can be routed and drilled as well with sharp bits, but be aware that they dull quickly, so cheap bits are better.
Corian has a finished and unfinished side. For pendants I use the finished side for the back so less work. Acrylics come with protective sheets that needs to be peeled of and to make sure that all residue is removed washed with metho. Then both need to be roughened up with 240/320 sandpaper to ensure the glue will stick.
Preparing for glue up.
Arrange the items in order and go through a mock glue up first to make sure everything is on hand as glueing will not permit delays. Then arrange the bench by laying a sheet of grease proof paper on the bench in case the glue gets on it and glues your blank to the bench DAMHIK and get your clamps ready. Open up any windows and turn on fans as the glue smell can overpower you.
I use medium CA glue for this. Thin seeps out to quickly and the thick stuff leaves a visible glue line. Use disposable gloves and have some Acetone ready and uncapped in case of emergency. Your hands are to important so don't glue them onto the blank. I use the sugar stirring sticks that you get when you make your own coffee at Pokie places for evenly spreading the glue.
Glue up.
Spread the glue onto the first blank and spread the glue evenly and place the next on top making sure it's square. Repeat with the next etc the same way. Work very quickly and when complete evenly clamp it. I use the single hand ratchet clamps. Do not put on too much pressure that the glue squeezes out.
Let the glue cure by itself. This would take at least a day on small jobs but on larger I like to leave it at least a week or so. Do not use accelerator unless you want it to come apart when turning.
Turning.
Prepare the blank as much as you can on the band saw as this is quicker then turning. I use a Con chuck from Pop's shed to securely hold the blank on the lathe and use tailstock support for as long as I can and definitely until the outside is shaped. If not the glue lines may fail, so also always use a facemask. They are cheaper then a visit to the hospital. I found that scrapers, parting tools and skews as a negative scraper work the best and sharp tools are essential. But a homemade scraper using Gary Pye's steel blanks (btw I found that they are a much better quality then McJing's steel) is cheap enough and easy to make.
Finishing.
Do not sand on the lathe as you will put circular scratches in that will take a lot of additional hand sanding to get rid of. I start at 600 wet and continue to 1000 then I use the wet micromesh sanding pads. It is much harder to see scratch lines on Corian then wood so sometimes I have to go back and repeat the whole lot of sanding.
Finally when completely dry polish it with a good cream car polish.
Conclusion.
It is a difficult but fun material to work with but the colours can be fantastic when finished. Other methods may work but this is how I do it.
If you take this up you must learn to ignore the insults from the traditional type of wood turners that I have met that seem to think in their little narrow mind that wood turners must only turn wood.
Peter.
Preparation of the Corian or acrylics.
Both items can be cut with wood working tools as I use a fine toothed TS blade and a bandsaw to cut them to smaller blanks. Corian can be routed and drilled as well with sharp bits, but be aware that they dull quickly, so cheap bits are better.
Corian has a finished and unfinished side. For pendants I use the finished side for the back so less work. Acrylics come with protective sheets that needs to be peeled of and to make sure that all residue is removed washed with metho. Then both need to be roughened up with 240/320 sandpaper to ensure the glue will stick.
Preparing for glue up.
Arrange the items in order and go through a mock glue up first to make sure everything is on hand as glueing will not permit delays. Then arrange the bench by laying a sheet of grease proof paper on the bench in case the glue gets on it and glues your blank to the bench DAMHIK and get your clamps ready. Open up any windows and turn on fans as the glue smell can overpower you.
I use medium CA glue for this. Thin seeps out to quickly and the thick stuff leaves a visible glue line. Use disposable gloves and have some Acetone ready and uncapped in case of emergency. Your hands are to important so don't glue them onto the blank. I use the sugar stirring sticks that you get when you make your own coffee at Pokie places for evenly spreading the glue.
Glue up.
Spread the glue onto the first blank and spread the glue evenly and place the next on top making sure it's square. Repeat with the next etc the same way. Work very quickly and when complete evenly clamp it. I use the single hand ratchet clamps. Do not put on too much pressure that the glue squeezes out.
Let the glue cure by itself. This would take at least a day on small jobs but on larger I like to leave it at least a week or so. Do not use accelerator unless you want it to come apart when turning.
Turning.
Prepare the blank as much as you can on the band saw as this is quicker then turning. I use a Con chuck from Pop's shed to securely hold the blank on the lathe and use tailstock support for as long as I can and definitely until the outside is shaped. If not the glue lines may fail, so also always use a facemask. They are cheaper then a visit to the hospital. I found that scrapers, parting tools and skews as a negative scraper work the best and sharp tools are essential. But a homemade scraper using Gary Pye's steel blanks (btw I found that they are a much better quality then McJing's steel) is cheap enough and easy to make.
Finishing.
Do not sand on the lathe as you will put circular scratches in that will take a lot of additional hand sanding to get rid of. I start at 600 wet and continue to 1000 then I use the wet micromesh sanding pads. It is much harder to see scratch lines on Corian then wood so sometimes I have to go back and repeat the whole lot of sanding.
Finally when completely dry polish it with a good cream car polish.
Conclusion.
It is a difficult but fun material to work with but the colours can be fantastic when finished. Other methods may work but this is how I do it.
If you take this up you must learn to ignore the insults from the traditional type of wood turners that I have met that seem to think in their little narrow mind that wood turners must only turn wood.
Peter.