Corian/micarta question

[Neo]

How does the white Dupont Corian compaires to white micarta in terms of:

- Comfort ( heavy?, Stain resistant?)
- Durable ( Brittle ?)

I'm interested in the Mcusta corian basic folder

 

[huugh]

Corian is little bit different from Micarta.
It's sort of heavy, smooth and without "layers". Corian is more like fine powder (Aluminium Tri Hydrate) mixed with epoxy(PMMA) in ratio 2:1 (respectively). Sort of sleek (very smooth) and seamless. Not brittle for sure, but I really don't know how you define durability , it doesn't suffer from age degradation (liquidation of Corian means either to burn it or ground it to powder to recyclate it into other Corian ). physical attributes are similar to those of hard wood. Chemically stable and nonabsorbing, however concentrated acids and localized heat (above 200C) can cause surface cosmetic taints.

Micarta has the nature of compressed epoxied layers of cloth paper and similar materials, unlike very uniform nature of Corian (where is instead ATH powder). Micarta can usually withstand higher temperatures (Corian can handle about 150C without any problems, above 200C can affect appearance, even higher temps can cause deformation), but is little bit surface-absorbent, but still chemically stable. In dependence on epoxy used it may be age degrading (epoxy dissolvment due to UV light).

Another thing to mention is that "micarta" can be of various composition, dependant of manufacturer/maker, but Corian's composition (or LG's alternative HI-MACS) is still the same (OK, similar , it depends what kind (color, style) you want).

Hope this helps.

 

[mete]

DuPont's Corian I thought was originally made of acrylic+Al-trihydrate filler [patented ] and some competitve products made of polyesther + filler.That's the kitchen counter stuff. Corian seems to have become a name to describe all of them.I'm not sure if my agrussell kitchen knives are real Corian or 'Corian type'.Haven't dropped them yet so I don't know how brittle they are !!

 

[richard j]

i made a handle from some corion earlier this year as a test. it looked ok but when it gets wet, forget about hanging onto it. however if it was textured and not smooth it might be ok. it is kind of brittle in a way. if thats the knife you want to get, it might be ok since the handle is contoured.

 

[tirod3]

ONe of the claims,IIRC, is that Corian was OK to use as a cutting board IF you wanted to refinish the surface yearly due to the scratching. Apparently it doesn't have a high surface hardness. In the cabinet trade, it's known to be shapeable with normal carbide wood working bits, as the edges are routered to shape.

The Mcusta looks as if the handle was shaped on a belt grinder to scallop and bevel the grips. Lots of fancy pen makers and hobbyists lathe Corian to turn barrels for ink pen sets; again, it must not have a high hardness or difficult texture to work with, and is probably not very brittle to put up with the shock of machining/grinding.

I would intuitively trust it more for ductility than G10 fiberglass, just from reports of chipping of G10, and the intended use of Corian around pots, pans, and kitchen knives. A brittle surface (like Formica) would be a minus in that environment.

 

[rosconey2]

corian is a gem to work with-
i wouldnt call it brittle by any stretch-

i worked with it for a few years-

 

[knarfeng]

How does the white Dupont Corian compaires to white micarta in terms of:

- Comfort ( heavy?, Stain resistant?)
- Durable ( Brittle ?)

I'm interested in the Mcusta corian basic folder

- Corian should be comfortable and reasonably stain resistant. That is, after all what it was designed to be.
- I would not consider it brittle, though it will break more easily than micarta because Corian does not have continuous reinforcements. Assuming that the knife in question has steel liners this should not be an issue.

But it is not as strong as micarta since in micarta the fiber reinforcements are continuous.(but micarta is uber strong, a material can be weaker than micarta and still be strong enough to make a suitable knife handle.)

Corian will scratch more easily than micarta because Corian is not as hard as micarta.

I would consider it suitable material for a gents knife.

 

[switchman1]

I have a knife made by a fella named "Huck" that I have had since 1994, the handle is made of jigged corian and it has held up very well. Although this knife is not my edc, it has been carried and used in all kinds of weather and the corian has performed well.

 

[Daniel Koster]

I would agree with pretty much all the above...



just want to add:

The corian will feel colder "in the hand" (and the micarta warmer). If you like that, great - if not, might want to think it over.

 

[Neo]

Thanks for the feedback, guys! :thumbup:
I was affraid the corian was to britlle and an accidental drop would result in a broken handle.
In any way it's a gents knife so it won't see any abuse.
I've many knives in micarta / G10 so I'm happy to try something else.