Corian cabachons

[elody21]

There are other ways to make corian cabachons and round inlays but this is how I like to do it.

First I like to cut them in half.


The vice I have is from Menards and is made for a drill press I made wooden inserts with a v groove and attached them to the vice which already has screw holes! I use this to hold all of my pen blanks for drilling. I cut a piece of 4x4 a little smaller than the size corner to corner of the 2x2 and I also cut about 1/4" of th thickness off so the vice could hold the corners. The hole cutters are also from Menards.

While cutting you might have to use a brass brush to get rid of the build up of hot corian on the teeth

This cutter is marked 1 1/8" on the outside so it makes a 1 1/8" hole but it makes a 1" cabachon.

This shows the hole and plug cutters I have. The ones with teeth work the best but the other ones will work if you work slowly

Cabachons can also be made by glueing the 2x2 to a waste block and turning it round and to the desired size and thickness
A 2" hole cutter(not shown)fits on a 2x2 sample and will cut a 1 7/8" corian round. Don't forget to secure it with a vice!
Good Luck! Alice

 

[YoYoSpin]

Well done...thanks for the tutorial.

 

[Thumbs]

Nicely done and well explained, Alice, but you've really got to tell us what you used the OD Corian on. I've got an odd square of that someone gave me but I can't think of what to use it on............ Please don't tell me it's just a paperweight! Ha!

 

[elody21]

Does OD mean odd diameter??
If you have a piece already glued up make a small box! Post a picture of it so I can see the size of the piece you have. My grandmother used to have beautiful door knobs in her old house. I always thought a corian doorknob would look cool. The hardware places like home depot have ones with a white porcelin. I was thinking of getting one and using the "workings" to make one.I saw a lamp on one of the sitcoms that had like a porcelen or glass ball incorperated with the wood like a large bead. It looks great. I really like that idea. I think I'll work on that one next! I guess it depends on the size.
or if it is flat--------------------------
Corian can be easily cut to any shape with regular wood saws. If you make bowls or boxes you can use a larger piece epoxied onto the bottom to use as a foot or an accent. A great color is the jet black. I have used it on turned and lidded pieces instead of ebony. Our turning club does a brutal critiqueing at the monthly meeting and the black corian trim passed for ebony! I kept my mouth closed! You can always use a larger piece to cut to glue up for larger pens! Glueing directions are in the box coming. I have another idea that I have not done yet. I love making rolling pins. So I want to glue up some pieces of corian to use as handles! One could match the handles to the kitchen.( A girl thing ) I have also used strips of corian in cutting boards. Making sure to use tiny bisciuts and epoxy to put the pieces together.You can use ivory colored corian as an ivory substitute. It also makes great finnals or handles. I have seen examples of carved corian. This is done with rotary tools. I have not tried that yet. I made a bath set for my sister to match her vanity. A soap container with pump, a soap dish, and I am now working on a dixie cup dispenser. I need to get her to take a picture of them and I can post it. The soap dish was round with a foot. If you have a large enough piece you can use it as the bottom of a papertowel holder or an insert for a cheese tray! So you can use corian as an accent just as if you would use another type of wood. I love color and this is an easy way to incorperate color without using wood dye. I guess I got carried away!!
Actually a paper weight sounds interesting!

 

[JimGo]

Alice,
I'd love to see the Dixie Cup holder when it's done!

 

[Thumbs]

Ummmmmm.... OD stands for Olive Drab. [:I]

Thanks for all those other great ideas though and please do post those pictures.[][]

 

[elody21]

You probably have the color moss. Yes it is very Olive Drab! You need to add OD to the list!

 

[Ligget]

Great tutorial Alice, many thanks!![:0][]

 

[Darley]

This is great Alice, thanks to post it

 

[elody21]

Originally posted by JimGo
<br />Alice,
I'd love to see the Dixie Cup holder when it's done!

Jim, When my sister asked if I would make a dixie cup holder to match, my first thought was,-- What?! It turns out all she wanted was something simple like the one she already had that the cups fit in upside down. Lucky for me she did not want one that dispenses them by pulling down. That would have been much harder. This one is a very simple design. It is probablay not what we all think of as a cup dispenser. On Wednesday I will take a picture of all three and another posting how easy it was to do.

 

[MDWine]

I just had a thought... (don't panic, I have these occasionally)

How about taking all of those strings of corian you get when milling it, and cast it in acrylic?? Would the two mix?

Just a thought... the smell of burning rubber will go away eventually!

 

[alamocdc]

Michael, I don't think they would actually mix, but I'm working on a similar idea with my PR shavings right now. I'll keep you posted.

 

[rduncan]

Don't want to resuscitate an older thread but I just received my Harbor freight Diamond Hole Saw set (#32400) that is/was on sale for $4.49. It came as a 1/2" and 1" set. I tried the 1" on a 2x2 tile I split in half like shown above and I think it will work great for stoppers. I went ahead and sprayed a little water on it while cutting just in case. I thought at the price I'd try them since I didn't have a "toothed" saw in the shop anyway. While I was at it I stocked up on vinyl gloves and the like also.

 

[hobby_dale]

Alice, thanks for posting this and Rick for bringing it back up top! I had a question and was going to ask Alice, but not she answered it for me without even knowing it. Many thanks all.