Turning Corian Type Material?

[Splinter]

I resisted turning any material except wood for pens until today. I turned a corian type material (man made counter top material) for a Apprentice Roadster pen (same as Streamline pen). Everything was okay (with lots of clingy dusty stuff) until I began assembling the pen. When I pressed the nib into the lower barrel the material cracked at the nib end. The nib was pressed in straight and was not overly tight.

What did I do wrong or is this fairly normal?

 

[sefali]

Corian and the like, has little to no give, so you have to be especially careful with press fit parts.

 

[shootintom]

Yeah, it tends to happen more than I care to mention and I've been thinking about investing in a reamer. It seems to happen mostly on the sllimline style pens for me but not so much on the larger pens. I realy love how Corian turns and finishes and the many ways it can be put together. The only drawback is that it's a lot heavier than wood and turns some folks off.

Tom

 

[PTownSubbie]

I have made several Corian pens and have not had one crack on me. All of them were slimlines.

You have to make sure the pressure you put when you press in the nib is even and smooth. If it is not even pressure in all directions (ie. centered in the tube), I could see how you could crack it.

Don't give up on it. It is nice to turn and finishes the easiest of all materials.

 

[Daniel]

With any Acrylic, but aven more so with ones like corian that have no forgiveness. Be extra careful that there is not glue or anything left in the tube. I usually can find a drill bit from my HF 115 pc set that will ream out the tube. if not I roll up some sandpaper and actually sand the inside of the tube. it is better to over do it and have to glue in the part than to under do it and have the barrel crack. You will get a feel for when you are simply having to press to hard to get the part in.

 

[Frank Nemke sr]

I turn80% corian and love the way it finishes up. I find that corian with bigger chips will crack easer than the smaller chips, but I turn both. I take a small file and run it around inside the tube before I press the parts I made a press out of a nut cracker that has an ajustable head on 1/2 and the plunger on the other. this works good for the nib & trans. I use it with blocks of wood. I bought a HF press for the cap & clip. I use a long socket to press the cap onto the clip first. that makes it easyer.
Making a real slim pen is much harder with corian. I make alot with a ball just above the nib and people seem to like it.

 

[Frank Nemke sr]

I'm looking for some H&R Block green, or something close to it

 

[Mark]

I haven't seen a bright green like that. The color chart at Dupont doesn't have a bright green on it at all.

There is an Argo Green listed under the Zodiaq colors, but that's about it.

 

[TellicoTurning]

I've only turned one corian pen and it hasn't sold... not even sure that I like it, so understand customers not caring for it.

 

[KenV]

Corian has been most successful for me when I get an easy finger fit and use Locktite Medium to help hold. One must be very sure that ALL burrs and glue are out of the way to have least risk of the crack. I like the fit so I can pull it a part before I apply a very controlled amout of Locktite (no, I do not use the locktite container directly, but rather use a plastic applicators).

I use corian for handles on BBQ items (think pig tailed turners) and the like and people like the effect. Wash well, but not dishwasher durable (gluelines rather than the corian).

 

[RAdams]

I split a whole bucket of corian blanks. It has no give what so ever. I use a chainsaw file to clean up the inside of the tubes before i try to assemble on all pens, and especially with corian. If the tube will not slide effortlessly on and off the mandrel or bushings, then it needs cleaned up.

 

[Splinter]

Thanks for all the comments/advise. I'll try again

 

[witz1976]

I found that I cracked corian if the nip is slightly off center when pressing. So I actually sand down (I use a dremel for this) the part of the nib that is pressed in so it slides right into the brass and add a drop of CA to glue it in. Never had a crack since.

 

[Splinter]

I finally tried Corian again - this time with a cigar kit. No problems and the person I gave it to really liked it. He gave me a huge pile of corain scraps so I turned him and his wife some corian items.