Anyone turning Corian

[MikesPenTurningZ]

Hi Guys. I ordered a bunch of corian to turn pens from. I have used Corian for morse code key knobs but not for pens. Any words of wisdom for me?

[Former_Member]

That's pretty similar to acrylic isn't it? Little bit of a harder plastic?

[Former_Member]

Corian is easy to turn and finish, just keep your tools sharp and take your time.
The biggest challenge with corian is the fact that 99% of it only comes in 1/2" thickness.
That means you need to laminate your blanks.! ( Use 2 part Epoxy, not CA )
Depending on how well you do this, the seams can look from horrible to invisible.

Even though Corian feels quite rigid, it actually flexes a fair amount.
To make the seams disappear, use as many clamps as you can, you can't overdo it !!!

....And make sure you start clamping in the CENTER and place the rest of the clamps progressively toward the edges.

Corian can make some very striking Pens.!
Find the shops in your area that do the actual cutting for the Kitchen and Bath installers in your area.
Most of them will let you have the scrap cutoffs for free or just a few pennies a pound.
There is some very attractive corian amongst the new countertop and bath fixture designers.

ADK

[Former_Member]

Does it still smell horrible like acrylic?

[MikesPenTurningZ]

I have worked Corian for turning and laminated parts using gorilla glue and the seams were very fine. It doesn't smell like acrylic does Jason, those pens I put out over the weekend smelled terrible. Luckily after they are made they don't smell anymore. I have a bunch of corian blanks ordered and am waiting for them to come in. I will try them as soon as I get them. The Corian that I have here is quite thin maybe just under 1/2 inch. I can drill it but it won't be fun..

[MikesPenTurningZ]

I got my corian in today. The blanks are pretty narrow but I can just get a comfort pen out of them. I drilled up 5 tonight, tomorrow I turn!!!! ;>) Stay tuned for more..

[Former_Member]

I have made many pens and pencils using 12mm corian blanks. So far I haven't laminated the corian for the larger pen kits, I have only used them on the slimline twist pens.

As mentioned above your tools need to be super sharp - including your 7mm drill. Accurate drilling is essential. I have a special pen blank vise that ensures the drill is central to the blank all the way through. Just as with acrylic keep the drill speed slow and withdraw plenty of times to clear the swarf. I also use dry silicone lubricant spray on the drill to ease the cutting process and keep heating to a minimum. For the same reason keep the lathe speed low. Before gluing the tubes in I clean the silicone off with a suitable solvent - I have found both de-natured alcohol and acetone to be effective.

For finishing use wet & dry abrasive - either automotive finishing abrasive or Micro Mesh pads are fine. My preference is Micro Mesh. I then use automotive chrome polish although plastic polish is said to be as good and finish off with automotive (Auto Glym) glass polish. The finish is superb and glass-like.

[MikesPenTurningZ]

I love your pens Bob they are really nice. Thanks for the great advise on my turning. I have a shopsmith mark V and use the boring tool for my blanks along with a V-block to hold them straight. It works pretty well. I will make sure to keep my speeds low when drilling and turning. I should have a few up this evening. I really like your black corian pen pencil set wow I hope mine come out that well.

[Former_Member]

Take your time and pay attention to detail and the nice pens just happen.

It generally takes me about 20 minutes or so to turn the pen and up to an hour to get it to that level of gloss shine. Dont rush and keep the speeds low. Use a drop or two of washing up liquid in the water for the wet & dry sanding it helps to keep the slurry free running. I put a tray underneath the pen to catch the water so I feel confident in using lots of water without making a mess.

I have been very busy making the conservator's bowls to fill big orders for museums. Now that is out of the way I have 12 beaded slimlines lined up with various colours of corian for my next project. Should start them next week so keep an eye on the shop.

This is the vise that I use
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-quick-action-pen-blank-vice-prod655637/

Happy turning

[MikesPenTurningZ]

I made up a second round of blanks last night for corian pens. There are 10 of them. I drilled a small pilot hole and that helped a lot. I think I can get comfort pens out of most of them. I used darker colors for this batch with greens, blues and reds. I am going to put out a few pen pencil sets with this too.

[Former_Member]

I just got in touch with a friend's father to get some corian from his cabinet business for experimenting with before I buy any, and I wanted to know, will Easy Wood Tools work on it like they do on Acrylic, do I need to use my cryogenic for details like I do on acrylic, and does corian NEED finishing or will just wet sanding work as well as it does on acrylic, with no finish?

[MikesPenTurningZ]

You can treat it like any other plastic that is really all it is. Regular wood tools and such. Wet sanding definitely then some polish and it is just beautiful..

[Former_Member]

Take your time sharp tools wet sand and use t cut and car Polish to finish