knife handle, Corian. what is it?

[NavySWCC37]

I looked on NCK for some cheap Micarta, but I found some stuff called Corian.  is it a plastic, or a laminate , or a phenol? what is it, is it any good for a full tang?

[bigfootnampa]

Solid plastic countertop material.  Pretty tough, machinable, polishable... I have seen a few knife handles made of it.

[ciladog]

Solid plastic countertop material.  Pretty tough, machinable, polishable... I have seen a few knife handles made of it.

Corian is not solid plastic.   It is made from acrylic polymer (as a binder) and mostly alumina trihydrate which is mineral found in nature.  Very tough stuff and needs to be cut with carbide tooling.  I worked with if for years back in the day.

[thingmaker3]

http://corian.co.uk/Corian/en_GB/assets/downloads/documentation/corian_specdata_en.pdf

 

You can do inlays or thermoform it. You can also use dyes on it.

[pkrankow]

For limited runs common tooling will cut it fine.  Block plane, chisel, drills, woodworking tools...  It will dull a tool in a hurry, but not in a single cut.  Carbide tools are probably desirable for "mass" production.

 

Phil

[ciladog]

For limited runs common tooling will cut it fine.  Block plane, chisel, drills, woodworking tools...  It will dull a tool in a hurry, but not in a single cut.  Carbide tools are probably desirable for "mass" production.

 

Phil

 

 

Very amusing answer Phil.  For limited runs > not in a single cut > it will dull a tool in a hurry > [but] carbide for "mass" production.

 

Corian is very hard and very abrasive and chips when cut with dull tooling.  I suppose you could cut, sharpen, cut, sharpen, cut, sharpen until you get the job done.  

[pkrankow]

Very amusing answer Phil.  For limited runs > not in a single cut > it will dull a tool in a hurry > [but] carbide for "mass" production.

 

Corian is very hard and very abrasive and chips when cut with dull tooling.  I suppose you could cut, sharpen, cut, sharpen, cut, sharpen until you get the job done.  

I have used corian for some small projects in the past and did not have a problem.  One-off projects, drilling several holes, trimming to fit, and rounding the edges.  Nothing complex, most were access covers for a boat, some with equipment cutouts.  I did not have a chipping problem.  The only power tool was a drill.

 

Phil