Corian as a Handle Material

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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I have a very small knife I need to make scales for... I was @ home depot the other night ago and they happened to have a bunch of Corian samples... I grabbed a few (they are about 3" X 3") and was wondering about the 'machinability' of this stuff. I have lots of purdy homemade phenolic Striga-Carta that I can use but this stone lookin stuff is very appealing.

Any experiance ideas?

Thanks!
 
Works easily with wood working tools. Wear a respirator or dust protection of some tip. This stuff is nasty in your lungs.
 
Yep. Kinda brittle though- don't pein pins into it or anything like that.
 
it works and cuts like wood. it will brake now and then if below 1/4".
when i use it at 1/4 " i just glued it buy roughing it up a little or bore divets for the glue. vern
 
I think you're going to get different responses about the way corian works. That's because it seems to be different hardnesses depending on color, when/where it was made or whatever. I've been told by several folks that it's chipped on them and I've seen corian that can easily be dented or scratched. Either way, it should be easy for you to machine.

I've got some on a kitchen knife as bolster/cap material and it's held up well for about 18 months now. I've also got several sanding blocks etc that are made from it and hold up fine to banging around the shop. I don't think it's going to be more fragile than many of the fancy natural materials you can buy, no matter which hardness you get.
 
I made a corian handled paring knife for my Mom. My brother took it up on the roof while putting up Christmas lights (cutting elec. ties) and he dropped it off the roof onto the sidewalk stones below. The handle cracked.

I'll never use that stuff again. :rolleyes:

Pretty stuff though and easy to work.

Rob!
 
Rob! said:
I made a corian handled paring knife for my Mom. My brother took it up on the roof while putting up Christmas lights (cutting elec. ties) and he dropped it off the roof onto the sidewalk stones below. The handle cracked.

I'll never use that stuff again. :rolleyes:

Pretty stuff though and easy to work.

Rob!
Click to expand...

You're not going to use it again because it didnt survive a long fall? That excludes alot of materials Id think...
 
Strigamort said:
You're not going to use it again because it didnt survive a long fall? That excludes alot of materials Id think...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know. Hence the rolleyes. Corian is fine, but if I'm going to use something synthetic, it may as well be bombproof too. :D

Rob!
 
I've used it on one knife, and it worked a little like a softer Micarta. It worked fine with Corby rivets and folks always admire it. I admit I have not given it hard outside use, but it seems to be a good and relatively cheap handle material.
 
I'm pretty sure it is made of acrylic.

It is intended to be cut with wood saws and wood routers during installation as a counter top and to be polished. It has good dimensional and chemical stability. It won't shrink or warp over time and it is non staining. If it is crosslinked PMMA it won't respond to glue well, though a rough surface and undercut divots and epoxy are a good bet.

It makes a fairly slippery handle material. As already mentioned it is heavy. I wouldn't like it for many applications for those reasons, but it would be good for others.

I wouldn't over heat it while sanding because it is plastic.
 
I went through a phase that I used it in all my knives because of its easy to work with. I pretty much swiped a bunch of those samplers (the "folks at Home Depot" think I'm very idecisive about that counter top in my kitchen that I've been "workin' on" for a year).

They make great spacers and come in "pearl", "bone", etc.

Jim L.
 
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