Plastics other than Corian

[luckettg]

I started doing some research via Google today to try and determine what Corian was and maybe find a substitute plastic from the scrap at work. I know now what Corian is...sort of anyway. Could Polypropalene or ABS or Lexan or etc. be used. Please forgive the spelling. I am too sleepy and it is late.
Thanks
Greg.

[SAA3840]

Lexan will work. So will any hard acrylic. Watch for the plastic boogers as they will stick in the nooks and crannies and they're a real booger to get out. Also, make sure you get ALL of those boogers out of your machine after you carve. They'll cause all kinds of problems, especially if they get in behind a drive belt.

[cnsranch]

A cast acrylic is the key - plastics with a low melt point will not work...

[luckettg]

A cast acrylic is the key - plastics with a low melt point will not work...

Using Corian's melting point as a guide?
Thanks:)

[LittleRedWoodshop]

Corian is the name that DuPont gives to their cast acrylic products - you need to be doing research into cast acrylics. Meganite is another good line of cast acrylic products.

[luckettg]

Corian is the name that DuPont gives to their cast acrylic products - you need to be doing research into cast acrylics. Meganite is another good line of cast acrylic products.

This has opened up a bunch of information, via Google. Thanks!

I do believe that I can find some suitable scraps at work now. Those folks are already use to me digging through their scrap bins and will not mind if I snag a piece or two for experimentation.

[Ken Dolph]

Corian does not have a melting temperature. I know that seems odd but it is true. Corian softens at 300 degrees and is fully formable between 325 and 350. Pure acrylic melts around 365+. The alumina trihydrate, a mineral that makes up about 70% of Corian, out gasses water vapor at 355+. So Corian sweats until all of the ATH has changed form. A process which smells very bad but is not toxic. By that time the Corian has become a dry brittle mass.

People like to call Corian plastic but it is almost 70% minerals. So the answer to the original question. You will not find a plastic like Corian. Though you may find other solid surface materials like Corian.

If Corian were a plastic it, would have been sold through plastics distributors and probably would not have been used for countertops.

I hope this helps
Ken

[mgnagy]

Someone should work on a plastics FAQ that we could all use as a reference. We could even share online sources on where to find the materials on the cheap, explain the difference between DuPonts Corian vs. Cast Acrylics...

who feels like earning a gold star :-D

[luckettg]

Someone should work on a plastics FAQ that we could all use as a reference. We could even share online sources on where to find the materials on the cheap, explain the difference between DuPonts Corian vs. Cast Acrylics...

who feels like earning a gold star :-D

I agree with this. It would make a good Tips & Tricks. I save every one of those and read them as I learn my way.

[neeterxxi]

Newbie here. :mrgreen:

I don't have a Carvewright yet, but I'd like one. However I was told not too long ago that according to the Carvewright manual in the section on plastics, using the cut-out function on cast acrylic or polycarbonate was strictly forbidden! Can anyone confirm/deny/clarify this?? Only the tapered bit and functions using it was allowed on plastic. Cutting and carving plastics are the primary reasons why I would love to own a machine. I will probably use it for some wood products too, but plastic fabrication is what got me interested in the first place. If I can only engrave as opposed to cut out shapes, I may have to look for another machine, which would make me very sad. :(

But as for finding sources for good cheap cast acrylics, I found a reallly nice one in Utah: Delvie's Plastics Inc (http://www.delviesplastics.com). I think most of their sheet is cast acrylic and they come in zillions of colors.

Lenita

[rickyz]

i used a scrap piece of acrylite i had laying around. carved very well.

[earlyrider]

Add cast urethane plastic to the list of machinables. You can buy it in several thicknesses, and in blocks. One product name is "Butterboard", and machines and carves well (this is not a foam). One supplier who may have an equivalent to Butterboard, and definately has urethane foam slabs (in various densities) is Utah Foam. You can buy the components and cast your own shapes/molds in foam. Its fun and can be very messy! The foams are the equivalent to "Signfoam". Just another source.
Ron

[SAA3840]

neeterxxi, I just carved a router table insert out of 3/8" acrylic. Had no problem using the 'cut-out' feature. I needed a 1.35" hole for a router-bit bushing and my carvewright cut it out just fine.

Carving acrylics is not a problem. Just get the plastic boogers out of your machine when you're done.

[will george]

Please forgive the spelling. I am too sleepy and it is late.
I have problems with spelling (even when using a spell checker) and I Majored in English!

Nothing to do with your question.
The picture of PaPa with his grandchild? Got my attention.

Little children are the best! I babysit every day except the weekends. Sometimes I wonder why I am not out in my workshop at my age? Then I remember, I traveled the world during my working life and not much time with my children. MOM raised em' good!

I try to do the same with my wonderful 'China Dolls'... They teach me more than I can teach them!

[neeterxxi]

Add cast urethane plastic to the list of machinables.

You're right about that! I made that discovery a few days ago and I was beside myself since I plan on carving some "custom" plastics of my own as well as bought acrylic sheet.


neeterxxi, I just carved a router table insert out of 3/8" acrylic. Had no problem using the 'cut-out' feature. I needed a 1.35" hole for a router-bit bushing and my carvewright cut it out just fine.

Carving acrylics is not a problem. Just get the plastic boogers out of your machine when you're done.

Thanks! I've been slowly working my way through past messages and realized that others had been using cast acrylic as well with the help of a "sled". How does that work exactly? I've been reading that the machine has to be able to read the edges of the material to be able to measure it. Do you make allowances for the sled measurements or does the machine "figure it out" somehow? Don't have a machine yet so I'm trying to figure out the practicalities.


Lenita