First experience with corian

[cowboy1296]

I have too many questions to do a search. I am cutting the 10 commandments into a marble looking piece of corian. The lettering will be less then .5 inches and the commandments will have an ornamental scroll around them.

Here come the questions:
What v bit for lettering?
I am thinking 60 degree for the scroll?
Can i do a profile cutout in corian with a scroll?
Can you use tabs with corian?
If so can you cut them with a jig saw?
I have a pc router so what feed rate?
What speed of the router itself?
What depth of cut?
Can you paint the graphics in corian?
If you can paint, enamel vs latex?
Does Corian allow paint to bleed?
Can you sand any excess paint off with 220 sand paper?
Can you laminate corian with polyurethane or just polish it?

I know 20 questions but i sure could use yalls advise.

[curtiss]

Do you have a piece to practice on first, to simply cut a few letters ?

For lettering paint, I like some of the water based Minwax stains that can be tinted to almost any color, errors clean up easily, takes a while to dry tho.

I would suppose tabs would work.. For most final cuts, I like a spiral toolpath that slowly gets deeper throughout the cut, not much stress on the part when it breaks free.

Speeds and feeds should be easy to find.

[cowboy1296]

thanks for the chart. i never thougth about staining corian but i have stain to use. since i am a hobyists the drying time is not that important.

[wberminio]

Check out this blog by Ed Lang
http://www.shopbotblog.com/index.php/2008/01/easy-signs-in-five-steps/

[keith_outten]

Rick,

I use a substantial amount of Corian every year for ADA door signs and other special projects.

Your 60 degree vbit will work fine for carving small letters.
A profile cut is fine and you can use tabs, the best way I have found to cut the tabs is with a multipurpose tool but a jig saw will work.
Enamel or acrylic enamel paint works fine. I like Ace Hardware brand spray cans, it doesn't load up sandpaper to bad. I often use a foam brush to fill details like contour lines in plaques using quart cans of Rustoleum. You can scrape the excess paint off after it dries with a razor blade scraper, then sand with your random orbital sander.
Sanding with 80 grit paper is all I need for ADA signs. You can use finer grade paper for a smoother finish and then wet sand with 3M Trizac disks if you need a polished surface.
For filling fine detail lines I often use Q-Tips for paint brushes, they are disposable. I also use model paint on occasion when I need multiple colors for awards plaques that I laser engrave and route.

Corian is a sign makers dream material.
You can heat it and bend it.
You can route it.
You can resaw it on a band saw.
You can dye-sublimate Corian which is an easy way to transfer color pictures.
You can use Corian for routing pictures, lithophanes and a host of other projects.
The cost of Corian is off-set by reduced labor, I find that it is very inexpensive and very profitable.

Hope this helps,
Keith

[cowboy1296]

That was a lot of good info

[cowboy1296]

Thanks for the suggestions. the corian cut easily enough and was even able to cut out the tabs with a jib saw. I found that corian sands easily too. Finish sanding with 400 grit. This was made with a scrap piece of corian, something for the ladies. Everything i make is dark brown or wildlife or cowboy stuff. Time to mix it up a little with the flea market coming up.