Corian as a slide?

[chuckknigh]

Well, a neighbor just had some Corian countertops put in, and of course I ran over and got some of the offcuts.

Now I have a lot of "small-ish" pieces of a very hard, very smooth acrylic polymer, that's workable with carbide tools.

Has anyone used Corian as a material for slides, or other parts of a CNC machine? It seems to have a number of desirable qualities, but I'm not sure if it's dimensionally stable...or how it would hold up under repeated abrasion.

Any first hand experience?

-- Chuck Knight

[radio-op]

Used it in kitchens and baths, it does scratch very easy so might not be too good as a bearing. I'm thinking it might make a good low vibration table if you could get some 1" or so thick.
Bill

[Bloy2004]

I've worked with it..installing it in kitchens and bathrooms...
It Does expand, although not to much.....always made the hold-down holes oversize for the expansion factor, or used flexible glues for fastening. It is really fairly easy to sand. Maybe with correct lubrication it MAY stand up to wear. As Bill says, it would make a great table but weight would require slightly bigger motor drives if the table is mobile. Easy to make t-slots into. Routes smoothly.

[radio-op]

Just a couple other thoughts about Corian. The shops that cast the counter tops can do custom sinks ect. So I was thinking, instead of MDF, how about a cast router table. Once you build a set of molds, the cost per machine would drop to the cost of materials. Could even offer a color selection.
Bill

[ger21]

Corian isn't cast. And, it's very brittle. Bolting anything to it can cause it to crack if you're noit careful. And, imho, it's not very slippery.

But I've thought about making molds to make composite parts for a router.

[radio-op]

Well I guess I'm thinking of a different product. The conter tops I'm thinking of is a resin material with the sink bowl cast in it. The color is add to give the impression of marble. You can cut it and drill it, bond it with a resin glue and polish the joint to the point that you can't tell where it was. We ordered the tops custom colored with a choice of bowls.
I think it would be do-able as a small router frame, could also add fiberglass to the resin. Oh well, just blue-skying.
Bill

[ynneb]

I would guess if it gets an abrasive dust in it it would deteriate rapidly. It may slide ok but I dont know for how long. The other thought was been resin It may react to the friction heat and lose its sliperyness while hot. I guess ideas like this must be tested to find out. Who knows. What about casting teflon sliders?

Ger. I also am going to route some parts to make moulds for more machines. But thats a long way down the path. I also want to vacuum form plastic covers to give the machine a professional look.

[radio-op]

Another thread here has a link to Moglice.com, moldable bearings. There are alot of photos of projects from customers, very interesting.
Bill

[sol]

I have tried to use Corian for a number of parts.
As an anti-back lash nut it fails, too brittle, very difficult to thread and then it rapidly wears.
I have had good luck with it as a rail support in a panel cutter. I routed a cove in it and placed a rod of cold roll in the groove and it has held up for years..
This area is very humid and with Corian the seasonal shrink and swell of wood is avoided, but overall it is an odd combo of properties: soft, brittle, stable, heavy and waterproof.

[chuckknigh]

Well, any other ideas for its use? If not, I'll just keep it around for future projects...

-- Chuck Knight

[ynneb]

Yes one Idea for its use. You could thow it at the neighbours cat.

[chuckknigh]

Nah...the neighbor with the cat is the lady that gave me the Corian. An inappropriate response, at best.

:-)

-- Chuck Knight