How nasty is Corian?

[clydethecat]

I was talking with a cabinet maker who could do up some small boxes with Dupont Corian. Has anyone here messed with Corian speaker enclosures?

The combination of acrylic and ceramic, which is what I think Corian is made from, could be stiff, but maybe a bit harsh? Would constained-layer damping of the panels help?

[evilskillit]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

I've never worked it myself but from what I've been told working in coutnertop sales for 4 years and have observed is that its basically just a really cool polymer (plastic) that can be worked with all your normal wood working tools. Per unit of thickness its probably pretty comparable to MDF and I don't see why you couldn't use it the same way if you somehow got access to quantities of it at cheap prices.

[kornphlake]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

My dad has done a lot of stuff with Corian on his CNC mill, it's pretty similar to any other plastic, keep the work piece moving in relation to the cutting tool so you don't melt the plastic and you shouldn't have much trouble. Like any other job, sharp blades or bits will make working with Corian easier.

I've got a few game boards an other trinkets my dad has machined out of corian and they have a pretty good ring when tapped with a knuckle. I'd seriously consider some kind of damping rather it's a constrained layer or something else.

[jinjuku]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

My dad has done a lot of stuff with Corian on his CNC mill, it's pretty similar to any other plastic, keep the work piece moving in relation to the cutting tool so you don't melt the plastic and you shouldn't have much trouble. Like any other job, sharp blades or bits will make working with Corian easier.

I've got a few game boards an other trinkets my dad has machined out of corian and they have a pretty good ring when tapped with a knuckle. I'd seriously consider some kind of damping rather it's a constrained layer or something else.

Do you you know if you can use wood style bits or do you need to use solid material bits. Solid material bits are easily 7-10X more $$.

I know with granite and cement you need to use solid material bits and a speed controller that keeps your torque up but speed down.

[evilskillit]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

Solid material bits are usually abrasive type where as wood bits are cutting/chopping type. You'd want cutting bits, probably wood bits for corian as abrasive bits would just melt it and that would look and smell awful. I seem to recall one of our fabricators telling us its workable with standard wood working tools as well. Go to your local home depot and ask for a free sample. Cut it with a chop saw then put it to a router and see what happens. ;)

[Thannytoes]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

It works for Morel!

http://www.morelhifi.com/products/home_octave_octwin_52.html

[clydethecat]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

My question of "nastiness" was more related to its sonic properties, than what it's like to work with.

[jinjuku]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

I seem to recall one of our fabricators telling us its workable with standard wood working tools as well. Go to your local home depot and ask for a free sample. Cut it with a chop saw then put it to a router and see what happens. ;)

Thanks. It would be neat to use for front baffle material...

[Gracias]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

After discovering John Krutke's wonderful designs I built his L18 and his TMM waveguide using mdf as a base layer with corian and hardwoods laminated to form what I found to be a very non resonant box. Later I built a few other designs with corian only and found it adequately dead without the mdf in smaller cabinets.
Corian can be joined seamlessly and polished to a beautiful finish not often seen in kitchens and baths but the required adhesives and polishing supplies are hard to justify for a small project. If your cabinet maker is set up for the material, I think you will be really happy with the results. Given the material cost and labor required, you may not be happy with the total cost however.
If you go with the corian, ask to have some hardwood or metal accents added as the corian alone may look a little sterile alone.

[clydethecat]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

Another thing - can Corian hold a machine screw if you thread it with a tap?

[ssyfert]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

Corian has a very high coefficient of expansion. If the entire enclosure is made of it you might have to be careful. I've used it once, got a large 30" X 40" scrap slab from work and made my computer desk out of it. Machines very easily with standard straight bits. When they CNC it at work the guys say a single flute 1/2" bit works best, but I used a double flute with no problems. Sands very easy, and the finer you sand, the glossier it gets. Just wipe it down each time and don't press hard. The home improvement stores sell a cleaner/polisher for solid surfacing that works wonders and makes it shine.

On our cabinets, the guys in the shop use silicone to adhere the corian to the substrate to allow it to expand/contract. I actually see this as a good thing for speaker applications, build the box out of mdf and silicone the 1/2" corian to the face. Should somewhat de-couple the box, maybe??? You would have seams that way though. If anything I could see it most easily used for baffles and bases for the added weight. Much heavier than mdf IMO (and my arm's opinion after carrying it to my car!). My 2 cents.

[ssyfert]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

Another thing - can Corian hold a machine screw if you thread it with a tap?

You want silicone, used in quarter sized blobs every so often. On a small bookshelf, I would say all 4 corners for a side and that's it. Allows for the crazy expansion of corian. It's incredible how strong a bond it is, as little bit of silicone as it may seem.

Edit: Mind mind was going in the direction of my post above about adhering the corian to the side. You most likely are talking about mounting drivers, right? That I'm not sure how well it holds threads, you could easily do a test piece if you can get your hands on some scraps.

[clydethecat]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

You want silicone, used in quarter sized blobs every so often. On a small bookshelf, I would say all 4 corners for a side and that's it. Allows for the crazy expansion of corian. It's incredible how strong a bond it is, as little bit of silicone as it may seem.

That's not what I'm asking. If you drill a hole in it, and tap it, will it reliably hold a machine screw?

[clydethecat]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

Edit: Mind mind was going in the direction of my post above about adhering the corian to the side. You most likely are talking about mounting drivers, right?

...or a removable panel...

[kornphlake]

Re: How nasty is Corian?

Corian will hold machine screws, I'd suggest a coarse thread rather than a fine thread though and be careful not to torque the screws down too tight.

There are screws specifically made for fastening plastics, I've most often seen them referred to as Plastitie screws and they resemble wood screws, with this type of fastener threads are not needed as the fastener forms it's own threads in the plastic. I'm not aware of any place a consumer can purchase Plastite fasteners though.