# Corian projects and material availability



## Charlie5791 (Feb 21, 2012)

OK I know it's not wood, but it could be PART of a woodworking project.

I have bone colored corian in my kitchen. I've also used it to cover the window sills where the dogs slobber after getting a drink and then going and looking out the window. Anyways… I've used it outdoors for a coiple of small things and it really seems to hold up well outside. Made some hatch covers for a friend's boat as an experiment and…. 9 years now they still look good.

Anyways… On CL here locally there is a guy that has TWO 12 ft x 30 inch pieces. $150 each. Bone colored. He has them listed as 3/4in thick but I'm wondering if they really are 3/4 or if they're 1/2 inch like what I have. At 3/4 inch those 12 footers will be HEAVY.

OK, I'm rambling. Here's the question:

Would you buy something like this basically "on speculation"? Like I don't have a project designed around this material, but I would like to make some stuff for myself like tables for around the grill and smoker, maybe a picnic table type thing, end tables?

I don't have anywhere I can store it flat, so I'd have to store it on edge, which I've already proven to myself is fine. I stored some like that for months in my garage and it didn't warp at all or anything.

So…. $150 to $300 for material that would need to be stored and for which you really didn't have a specific use, BUT seeing it available at that price is like….. how often is THAT going to happen?

What would you do?


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## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

My personality would have my wallet out way faster than the rational side could respond with questions as simple as "where are you going to store it." Yes, I hoard materials, and yes, I have lots of keen stories where I've had just what I've needed. Further in my favor, I get to a point where I do clean out and get rid of things whose sell by date has come and gone.

A further rational point about buying some or all of this is, it's kind of a controlled substance. The smart folks at DuPont keep all the arcane handling and finishing skills close to their vest. I have never seen anything larger than a sink cutout at the junk shops/ReStores which I regularly visit. You have stumbled on an unusual opportunity.

Sidebar: It is used as nuts, bridge saddles and face dots on fretted instruments, esp. the bone color. It makes wonderful accent statements when you plug screw holes with it on furniture projects.

I mindlessly glued a 3/8 plug onto a scrap of wood with hot melt and I had to hammer it off.

It also might make a nifty sacrificial fence material….hmm…..

Oh, back to the subject, yes, common in 3/4 thickness as well as others.

Maybe an LJ in your area would go halvsies. That would make it lighter!

Kindly,

Lee


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## wingate_52 (May 14, 2011)

I use it for ukulele nuts and bridge saddles. Those pieces would go a long way….


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

You could buy it, use what you need and sell the rest on a per sf basis to others. I know there are many who would like to use this material, but only need a small piece. You would be paying $5 a sf and could easily sell it off at $10 a sf + S&H.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

As you have found out from making a few items from the material, it can be cut and machined much like
wood. A friend made his own special bathroom counter top with backsplashes behind the sink and on 
one end with a corian sink glued into the middle, you need sharp bits and blades, but it looks great. Wish
I were closer, as I am going to remodel both my bathrooms and the kitchen in the next few years. You
are planning a kitchen remodel, and with a little practice and patience, the slabs would make a great counter-
top.


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## Charlie5791 (Feb 21, 2012)

My kitchen remodel is nearly done. 
I made the counter top at the sink and coffee bar from Corian (bone color). Did the sink cutout for 36 inch farm sink (stainless steel) and have the sink set as undermount. Once I had the template made, cutting it out with the router was easy, although corian is MESSY MESSY MESSY stuff to work with. The chips stick to EVERYTHING. It does, however, machine nicely. And cuts easily on the table saw (I use a 60-tooth, ATB grind, carbide). Other than the mess, I really like the stuff.


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## Charlie5791 (Feb 21, 2012)

AND….. those 2 sheets were sold minutes before I got there, so…. missed it by THAT much…

oh well. I've gotten to where I cruise craigslist a few times a day hehehe


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

If you can get some reasonably priced grab it. Even if you don't use it today, unlike wood it does not rot, warp change color and stays flat. Five years ago I got seven boxes of the sample squares the use at the Borg from a vendor that worked for them. Fanastic stuff to make all kinds of small things from, works good to make pens, keychain holders, fan pulls knobs, small wheels etc etc. Glues up nice with CA and unless you hurl it on concrete alot it will hold up to the abuse.


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## dannelson (Nov 28, 2011)

Look in your area for a countertop fab shop that does corian and ask if they have any scrap. Or get signed up as a fabricater yourself our distributor sends out emails all the time for classes on how to do seams/fabrication. Were considered a speciality contractor because we do signage out of corian. It makes great signage. We vcarve it on the cnc and then use a different seam fill color to fill in the V and than surface it off, kind of a epoxy inlay .Dan Nelson. Nelsonwoodcrafters


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## EMC (Mar 29, 2013)

That's just a little less than normal wholesale cost as the solid bone color is way less expensive then the darker and more Stoney looking colors. I typically paid under $200 for it.

The normal size is 12' x 30" so that makes sense.

I've never send it 3/4", it is only made in 1/2" and 1/4" (,I tied colors).

Hope this helps…


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