Purchasing Corian

[bcondon]

Bill Palumbo:

AT the class at Erminio Marrese's shop in 2008,
there was a discussion that Corian was problematic to purchase because the buyer had not taken the training class and/or were not Corian dealers.

Is this still the case as I would like to purchase some Corian from the Dupont distributor and wanted to be armed if he said no?

At the class, you said that you had a name if we had any problems...

Thanks for your help,

Bob

[cabnet636]

you can buy solid surface in a lot of places, corian is a brand,

http://solidsurface.com/?_kk=corian&_kt=64d79ce3-1fdf-4689-97c5-5ce090a2e339&gclid=CITVt4i7iaACFZxh2godnhcfkQ

i have used the dovae brand many times over the years decent product as an alternative.

http://www.chemcore.com/?p=Home

[bleeth]

Bob: Buying Corian depends on how you market it. Residential countertop manufacturers must have a technician with a certificate, but commercial shops do not. Also you can probably get your local distributor to sell you pretty easily for "artistic" use.

[bob_s]

Take a look at the note from Keith Outten on Sawmill Creek > sign design> the second sticky note about Dupont cooperating with sign makers to supply them with Corian
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=65214
The note is 2 years back, but at the meeting at Jim's in Columbia SC, Keith said it was still valid.

[myxpykalix]

bob
depending on what size you want and what you want to do with it, you can readily find it easily.

What i mean is, if you want to make say 12"X12" lithopanes you can buy it off ebay for around $2.00/ea. Last time i bought any i paid $1.00/ea.

If you want larger pieces you might go to your local countertop dealer and ask for cutoffs and offer to make a litho for him, then you will never need to buy any anymore they usually give you what you need.

[billp]

Bob,
Bob S. has the info I would have suggested...Keith has repeated this information at a few Camps, and he'd be the right person to contact.
Having said that, in answer to the first part of your question I'm wondering if their "requirements for purchase"might not have been "adjusted"due to the current state of the economy. It's easy enough to call and ask. This way if you HAVE to get the "OK"from the Corian head office you'll then know who to get the paperwork to at your end...

[ironsides]

CarveWright has some Corian listed in their store.

http://store.carvewright.com/home.php?cat=266

George

[cabnet636]

as a long time certified installer of corian and several other solid surface products i can say the purpose of certification was to control installation for warranty reasons in residential uses. most all other uses ar not warranted by the manufacturers, for corian one can usually purchase from carapace in charlotte nc.

jim

[myxpykalix]

George,
whew at those prices i could sell my stock at half that price and still have a 3000% profit margin. (yeah you read that right!)
$60 for two 12x14" pieces. I paid $1.00 ea.
Bob hasn't said what sizes he's looking for so that will have a bearing.

[gene]

Bob,
Try checking at a local cabinet shop for drops or cutoffs . Most of the time they will give or sell very cheap the pieces that are too small for them to use.

[robtown]

Corian is a brand name. There are dozens of brands out there. If Corian will not sell to you, I would bet you could find what you need in a different brand.

[phd1658]

I'm getting ready to make a couple of experimental lithopanes and am considering getting them from Ebay. My question is: Which one is better for a lithopane- bone or bright white? Thanks!

[billp]

Bright white. The entire concept of a lithophane is the contrast between light/dark. With the brighter material you get "more shades of gray" in the mix to enhance the details.
You CAN use other, off white colors if you're looking for a "themed effect" something like a sepia tone in an older photograph.
And be sure that your material does NOT have any "patterns/swirls, etc." in the material. It may not seem like much when you look at the blank, but after a few hours of cutting you don't want anything to distract the eye from the details in your original photo...

[cabnet636]

make sure it has no particulate in the white, i tried some to test my abilitys with photo vcarve and my mom and dad looked like they had measles!!

jim

[phd1658]

Bill and Jim: Thanks for the comments!

[myxpykalix]

bill after you cut your lithos come back and ask about lighting. I use cold cathode lights but others have used these strips of LED lights and although i have not tried them my feeling is that by using LED you might be able by using them be able to make the the frame thinner then when using CC. When using CC your frame needs to be 2.5 to 3" thick. I would bet you could mount your LEDS much closer. Has anyone used LED's for lithos and to what result?

[phd1658]

Thanks, Jack. Actually, I am considering several litho type products- using both AC & DC. I work for a pretty high tech electronics manufacturing company and have managed to make a trade with our head engineer- he is designing a battery powered LED system for me and I'm going to carve some lithos of his grand kids!

[jerry_stanek]

I like the bone over the white a lot better. I also use the led lights and they are 12 volt dc so you can run them off a battery. Here are a couple of links to see the difference. the bottom one is done in bone.

http://www.vectric.com/forum/download/file.php?id=14325&mode=view

http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=7060

[phd1658]

Thanks, Jerry. Are they both LED lit?

[jerry_stanek]

yes they are lit with bright white LEDs. The bone gives a softer light.

[keith_outten]

Dupont will help any sign company that wants to start purchasing Corian.

All it will take is a phone call or email to Daniel Andersen, he will take care of getting your company setup with your local distributor. You will not have to pay any fee or satisfy any equipment prerequisites. Call or email Daniel and provide your company information and he will do the rest. This offer is for sign businesses, there is no provision for individuals to purchase half inch thick Corian that I know of at this time. Quarter inch thick Corian can be purchased by anyone, just contact your local distributor.

The person to contact is:

Daniel S. Andersen
daniel.s.andersen@usa.dupont.com (mailto:daniel.s.andersen@usa.dupont.com)
Cell Phone# 847-274-7076

Glacier White is the name of Duponts pure white Corian.

[billp]

Keith,
MANY thanks for posting that info!!!!!

[ghostcreek]

Keith, another round of thank You's for that information.

[keith_outten]

Corian ia an amazing material. Once you get over the price tag you find out that it is not expensive at all. The perceived value by customers more than makes up for the cost and Corian can reduce your labor costs considerably.

I cut 60 ADA door sign blanks from a full sheet of Glacier White Corian which makes my cost per sign blank $3.83 for half inch thick signs based on the volume I purchase every year. I route two keyholes on the back of each blank then flip the sheet over to machine the front side, this saves me the time and cost of a hanger and is far superior to using adhesive or double sided tape.

When you machine the text or graphics you simply spray paint with a rattle can then sand the surface, no need for a mask or any backing material. You can also color fill using Dupont adhesive to get a perfect looking inlay every time.

Thermal bending is a snap using a heat press, you can bend Corian into almost any shape and it dye-sublimates well if you want to transfer color pictures and text.
.