Corian bracelets.

[Sturdee]

Having made a few Corian pendants I've decide to make matching bracelets.

Got the idea, and a how to, from the net and adapted their jigs to make the process simpler so today I turned two bracelets.

Photo 1 shows the first one made out of an off white speckled piece of Corian.

The second photo shows the second one.This is of a more textured Corian and is a bit larger than the first one.

The ruler is shown for scale. The second one was a lot quicker to do as I refined the jigs after the first one.

Still have to work out what the right internal dimension I should use. If any one has any idea (or their beloved has any bracelets you can measure) please post the details.

From the centre bit I can make a matching pendant as per photo 3.

Enjoy.


Peter.

[turnerted]

Nice bracelet Sturdee
I make my bracelets 60mm 64mm and 70mm .This will cover the size range for most women but I do make a few smaller and a few bigger . For the above 3 sizes I use hole saws and then I make pendant earings out of the plugs .
I would be interested in seeing your jig or the link to it .
Ted

[Sturdee]

Thanks Ted for the info.

Still tweaking the final sizes of the jigs/chucks as I make some more. Theory was good but the practice gives the refinements to make them better. As soon as I'm happy with them I'll post some photos.


Peter.

[Sturdee]

Whilst it was still cool this morning I made two more. These are with a 70mm ID and are approx 5 mm thick at the widest part.

The first is the same material as the last one of yesterday.
196655

The second one is a black granite. Still refining the shape but I'm happier with these two.
196656

The last photo shows the thickness of the bracelets.
196657

Enjoy and comments are always welcome.


Peter.

[dtaylor]

I think the bracelets are great, I have been playing with wooden jewelry, just something different for me besides bowls and platters. Here is a link to a fellow that will be doing a demo at our club in March:

Jewelry (http://alancarterstudio.com/gallery/jewelry-2)

emailed him, he probably won't be doing jewelry demo, but said we could discuss, looking forward to it.

dennis

[Sturdee]

The first bracelet I made being the off white speckled one of photo 1 of post 1 was a bit clunky and fairly heavy. The bracelet was 11 mm thick so I re chucked it and turned it down to a 5mm thickness.

Reduced the weight by half and I think it looks and feels better.

196714

Enjoy.

Peter.

[dtaylor]

to begin with, and are you just cutting it out with a hole saw first? Dennis

[Sturdee]

Dennis,

The corian I use is the standard 12mm thick although I have a small quantity of 18mm thick white corian that I will use to make platters or serviette rings.

I don't use a hole saw but turn them on the lathe. I made a jig attached to a face plate that holds a square of 110 * 110mm corian although I'm going to alter it to hold squares of 100 * 100mm. Using this jig I turn out the inner circle, finish to size and sand the circular hole.

I then cut of the corners etc on the table saw and put it on a home made extension which is screwed onto a chuck making it an expandable jam chuck to suit a number of sizes and turn the outside to shape.

Because this extension is fairly long, an extra 220mm, I use tailstock support with the chuck.

When I do the next one, this week, I will take photos for a how to post.


Peter.

[Sturdee]

Here is a link to a fellow that will be doing a demo at our club in March:

Jewelry (http://alancarterstudio.com/gallery/jewelry-2)

emailed him, he probably won't be doing jewelry demo, but said we could discuss, looking forward to it.

dennis

Lovely work on that website, looking forward to his comments and details of his demo.

Does your club have a website and newsletters to read on line.?

Peter.

[dtaylor]

Buckeye Woodworkers and Wood Turners (http://www.bwwt.org)

North Coast WoodTurners > Home (http://www.northcoastwoodturners.org)

[Sturdee]

Thanks Dennis for the links. I enjoy reading what others are doing.

Started making another arm band and am taking plenty of pictures for doin a how to, probably finish it on Friday, as I've got doctors appointment and a corian foraging visit planned for today and tomorrow.


Peter.

[John T]

HI PETER,
Can you cut corian on a bandsaw with out any problems or can you use a jigsaw.
john.

[Sturdee]

John,

You can cut it on the bandsaw but I use my table saw as this gives a much straighter and cleaner cut. My tablesaw has a 10" 80 tooth blade and has recently been sharpened so I prefer to use that.

You can also rout or drill it without any problems, just make sure that you don't over heat it by going too fast.

Peter.

[dtaylor]

I have tried a few cabinet shops yesterday and they don't seem to willing to give up there scrap, not sure what they do with it, don't seem to even want to sell it to me, they want to sell me a slab, which I can't afford. Going to check again tomorrow another location. looking forward to the photo's, I enjoy watching "How To's" and looking forward to yours also. Dennis

[Sturdee]

Dennis,

This week I went to two places that use corian. November last year I went to these and got free offcuts that I've been using and asked them to put good offcuts aside for me.

I took a lot of the things I've made, pens and pen desk sets, a clock, a bowl and of course pendants to show what became of it and gave each place a few pendants by way of thank you gift.

Tuesday I got quite a bit of green and red offcuts and today I got 52 pieces of various shapes in various colours. It took me three wheel barrow loads to shift it in the workshop.

They were only too pleased to see it being used as otherwise it would be thrown out and go into landfill.

I know it didn't happen if there are no pics so here it is in three piles on my TS.

Peter.

[Sturdee]

The how to on how I make them is posted here (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/how-i-make-corian-armbands-147560/#post1439562).

Enjoy.


Peter.

[Sturdee]

Made some more this afternoon. They are becoming easier as I go along. I also bought a Sorby 1/2" beading cutter and that makes the rounding over much easier.

These are the 64mm ID in a light grey with darker speckles and a lime green one.
197235 197236


Enjoy.


Peter.

[Sturdee]

Had a chance to do some more turning so I made a few more bracelets.

First one is out of some red Corian with the centre cutout used to make a small matching pendant.
198718


A black granite type of Corian, still have to do the pendant. Both of these are from the standard 12mm thick material.
198719


Finally a snowwhite bracelet made from some 18mm Corian I managed to get. For this I had to alter the jig I use to make it more of a donut chuck with a square locating base. This will also allow me to laminate layers of Corian for future designs.
198720



Enjoy and any comments or advice is appreciated.


Peter.

[munruben]

Nice work Peter, great looking pieces.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[munruben]

Just looked at your WIP Peter, excellent.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[munruben]

How hard is this stuff on your tools? I wold imagine you need to sharpen quite regularly.

[Sturdee]

How hard is this stuff on your tools? I wold imagine you need to sharpen quite regularly.

It's not too bad but it depends on the type of Corian. If it is plain or small specked stuff it's not bad but with the larger bits in it it needs sharpening more frequently.

I usually give the main scrapers and parting tool a quick touch up on the wet wheel before I start and a further touch up just before I start the final shaping of the bracelet.

I do these freehand so it's quick enough.:2tsup:


Peter.