My First - Corian Pen

[expotecs]

Hello fellow pen turners,

This is my first corian pen, I had a box of scrap corian from my construction days, and decided to turn a pen with some of it today.

I glued two pieces together using Med CA glue, let it sit for a half hour then cut the blanks to length and drilled, slowly drilled the holes.

It turned nicely, didn't have any blowouts or large voids to deal with and I finished it up with the MM series to 12000. My only complaint is that you can see the joint line, where the two pieces are glued together.

So, my question to all of you, who have experience with corian, is it possible to diminish that line ? I don't expect it to be gone completely, but I would like to make it thiner and less noticeable.


Comments / Suggestions

Thanks
Steve --


PS, thanks to all the responded to my first posting of pens.

 

[hewunch]

Did you put the smooth sides together or the rough? I usually scuff the smooth sides with 220 and then glue with med CA and put as much clamping pressure as I can. This really cuts down on lines.

 

[PaulDoug]

I sand the smooth sides with on some 220 or 300 sand paper that is laid an a flat surface, like my table saw top. This scuffs them a little and ensure they are flat. Clean both sides with DNA. I cover both surfaces with med CA and clamp. Let sit for at least 24 hours.

 

[MobilMan]

Steve, try the sanding thing then use thin CA & clamp. When you get close to final size, sand with thin CA & 4-600 paper, like you would on a wood blank with small voids. The sanding dust/CA should bridge the small line. When you sand the CA off [if you do] don't sand with any coarser grit than you used with CA. See if that does it.

 

[toolcrazy]

very nice

 

[angelofdeath]

good job with it...very unique shape..

 

[woody350ep]

I agree with the sand and glue up. My first one showed some dust in the joint. the ones after that have not. I sand mine with 220 on a flat surface and just run it in a circle to scuff it up. Clean with DNA also, and apply enough glue so that when you clamp the sh*t out of it, which you should, glue squeezes from all sides. Other than that, you are doing fine. Oh, one other thing that might help. When you are sanding, cross sand and clean the blank with DNA soaked PT sideways, hand turning it backwards, and then with lathe on. This hits it from all angles to get that troublesome dust out of any cracks. YMMV of course, but this works for me....

 

[ldb2000]

You could add a little coloring to epoxy and do your glue up . You don't need to add allot of pigment , just enough to tint the epoxy .
I use powdered pigments from Coastal scents and have had some success with everything but whites .
The professional corian installers use a colored glue of some kind but it's expensive .

 

[george]

I have recently made my first corian pen. I went to the factory which makes the corian (big boards), and they told me, that for gluing the corian pieces, the glue of the the same colour as the corian pieces must be used (black glue for black pieces, ...). This makes almost inivisble joint, the thicker pieces really looks like one thick piece.

Unfortunatly I do not belive that this glue is in ordinary shops, so try buying some at smaller workshops, where they work with corian. Otherwise the idea that Butch suggested (colouring the glue) is the closest to proffesional glue.

Good luck

 

[woody350ep]

yeah, the colored glue would work, but if you have flat surfaces and clamp the crap out of it, the only thing you MIGHT be able to see is a line where particles dont match up at the glue joint, which is what you will have regardless. I just think that the colored glue isn't as much a concern as getting good pressure on the glue up. That seems to be your problem anyhow....