Experiences with Corian

[Corduroy]

I noticed Mr. Tichbourne just mentioned this stuff, and I have used it as well. I was wondering who here has used this material for knife handles and how you felt about working it and its performance in the finished piece.

I have heard that it chips rather badly, but have yet to see this. I found it fairly easy to work, and it can be milled very cleanly, but it is surprisingly dense and seems to weigh noticeably more than micarta handles of the same dimensions, so balance must be adjusted accordingly. At least as hard as Micarta and it takes a beautiful polish.

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-Drew Gleason
Little Bear Knives

 

[Rob Simonich]

I just got through re-handling a large kitchen knife that the Corion handle had chipped in shipment. It wasnt packaged all that well but the handle shouldnt have chipped. When I recieved the knife for changing the handles, I held it about a foot off my cement floor and dropped it and a big chip flew out of the back of the handle. I will no longer use the stuff, and I didnt really like the looks of it anyway!

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www.simonichknives.com

 

I like it in particular for kitchen cutlery. I think it must be impervious to everything but nuclear attack, and those using the knives report that even wet it isn't slippery.
It polishes beautifully, is cheap (if you scrounge for it), but is a mite particular about how you peen a pin in it.

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Regards,
Desert Rat

 

[maddog2020]

Friends of mine have corian bathroom sinks and they have told me that the darker colors stain easy (toothpaste and whatever....LOL). I have a cutting board made out of off white corian, and certain foods have stained it - not superfical, scotch brite wouldn't remove the stains and I got tired of scrubbing it (it is just a cutting board). I think I like wooden cutting boards anyway....lol.

Sorry, this doesn't have that much to do with making knives, just some experiences with CORIAN.

 

[Chiro75]

I have a big thick sample of it that Kit Carson sent to me with some other handle materials included. I figured it was some scrap he had from a kitchen counter job and was just sort of kidding around! Isn't Corian the stuff that if you chip it or crack it in a counter that it can be replaced and somehow heated or treated so that no seam is left behind? I thought someone who was having a new house built told me that...

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My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels

 

[Ruppe]

I have used it for fancy letter opener handles and sheath's without problem, but I tried it on a couple of kitchen knives, and handles chipped and eventually broke. Nasty, but easy to shape on the grinder. Machines ok. I stay away from it now, although I have a bunch of it.



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Ron Ruppé
www.ruppe.com/Knives/index.htm

 

[george tichbourne]

It is brittle until it is epoxied to the knife tang. The only breakage that I have experienced was on a thin bladed fillet knife with a very thin handle scale, when the blade was flexed seriously the scale snapped at the first pin. What I learned was not to thin the handle scales too much and not to use it on fillet knives.

I use it mainly on knives that are going to be scrimmed because it is so nice to scrim on.

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george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com

 

[Alan Folts]

I skip it for the handles unless it is on a hidden tang as a spacer or something that is well supported due to chipping, I do like the stuff though for flat sanding jigs to wrap paper around, and to make jigs for drilling or laying out certain blade areas..

It does machine nice and grind and finish easy, but it lacks the structural integrity of micarta having a fiber or something to keep the resin together....

I have used a black paper micarta handle with an inlay of corian in the middle, I would use it anywhere that it is supported..

Alan...

 

[tom mayo]

i sharpen carbide for a bunch of corian guys. take a piece that weighs about the same as a knife.....hold it chest high... and drop it on the concrete......you will at least get a large deformation...but probably a big piece will chip off....it is JUNK for knife handles.....used it a bunch long long ago....chips very easily...cracks very easily, i do the same test with a big chunk of ivory and the cement chips.....do not use corian for anything except drill press blocks, it works great for that.