Carving and filling Corian

[scottbot]

I've done a fair bit of inlay work in Solid Surface material and use to use the solid surface adhesive like you guys have been doing. I fianlly got tired of filling the air bubbles and resanding and filling the air bubbles and resanding and filling... you get the idea. Some guys are successful with running a flame quickly over the adhesive to pull the bubbles out. I tried that once and after I put the fire out I decided not to do that anymore.

I switched over to fibreglass resin and haven't looked back. As a matter of fact I've sworn off using the solid surface adhesive for inlays altogether. It's too expensive and way too problematic. The fibreglass resin is tons cheaper too. You can use waxed or unwaxed.

What I do is v-carve out my design then clean it really well with rubbing alcohol or methyl hydrate. Then I'll use hot melt glue to make a little dam all the way around the design. I mix up my resin and hardener and add whatever colour I want (instead of using the limited colour selection I have in solid surface adhesive). Then I put the mixture in a little vacuum chamber I made to help reduce the air bubbles. It only pulls about 20" so it doesn't get them all out but it helps. Finally I pour the mixture into my v-carve right up to the top of the hot melt glue.

The reason for the glue dam is to allow you to fill the v-carve up past the surface of the base material to give the remaining air bubbles somewhere to go. If you don't go crazy with the hardener it'll set up nice and slow and the bubbles will rise up to the top. When it has set I'll squirt some rubbing alcohol on the hot melt to soften it and peel it off then use the Bot to plane the overpour as close to the surface as I can without cutting in to it.
After that I do my sanding and admire my bubble free pour in the colour of my choice.
Did I mention how cheap this method is? A 1 quart jug of resin will go a long way too.

Scott

[scottbot]

Dave
Sorry for being rude.
I should have mentioned first that the inlay piece that you did looks great.


Scott

[bleeth]

Scott;
Thanks for your compliment.
Thanks also for enlightening those who may be interested in producing these on a regular basis on your improved method. For me, it was a one-off and using in-stock Corian adhesive as the filler was cost free.
What do you use for the colorant?

[dmidkiff]

Dave, I was also rude. Sorry. That is a nice peice. I think all your work is very nice, and your shared knowledge is valuble to the forum. Thanks for your relpy. I only did the one because of the extra filling steps. Will look at Avonites site and might give it a try.

Thanks Scott for the fiberglass resin technique.
Dave

[scottbot]

Hi Dave,
I bought my resin from the marine supply store.
They also sell little bottles of colouring so I bought a few of them and mixed them to get the colours I wanted.
I've read where some guys have used 1 shot paint but I haven't tried that yet.
I should because I have a nice metallic gold and it would be interesting to see how it turns out. I also have some glow in the dark powder that I've been meaning to try. Looks like it's time to quit procrastinating and try them.
I'll report back with pictures and observations.

Scott

[Brady Watson]

Nice design, Dave! Hopefully your bird won't eat all the grapes!

--

Scott,
When you refer to 'resin' what kind of resin specifically? Polyester resin? (smells bad, activated by MEK-P) or Epoxy resin? (Like West system, MAS etc) There is a HUGE difference between the two - and both are available at the boat store...

-B

[scottbot]

Brady,
Polyester resin. The smelly stuff.
I wear a respirator when I use it as I do when I use the Solid Surface Adhesive.
I haven't tried using epoxy resin. It would probably work but is a lot more expensive.

Scott

[bleeth]

Thanks Brady but it really is just a resize and shift of a few elements in a stock Vector Art design. If White Bird wants to nibble on a few berries I wouldn't stop him.

Scott: after spending well over half my boat building life up to my elbows in polyester resin, MEK and Acetone I swore off the stuff and didn't even allow it in my shop for years! At least, so far, I haven't developed allergies to epoxy that many do after working with it for a while and I must have gone through drums of West System before I changed direction to "land based" casework. That being said, if I really wanted to try cranking some of these things out and marketing them no doubt I would end up going that route. I wonder how some of the suspended metallic oil based additives would do in Polyester Resin. Could be a cool look in focus lettering. Metalflake inlays?

[scottbot]

Dave,
I agree that the polyester resin and MEK is nasty stuff.
That's why I wear a respirator and put a big extraction fan in the shop doorway when I'm using it. I wear nitrile gloves too.
In a shop environment we can do a lot to minimize our exposure to the fumes and skin contact of this product. There is no reason to expose oneself to these hazards when the protective solutions are readily available and affordable.

You have rekindled my curiosity about mixing the polyester resin with nonstandard colours etc. I think I'll try the metallic one shot and the glow in the dark powder this weekend. I'll post the results.

Scott

[Brady Watson]

The only polyester product that I haven't completely sworn off is Eagle1's Duratec high build primer. It is durable enough for small runs of fiberglass parts as a tooling gelcoat, and you can shoot it with HVLP.

Another thing you guys may not have thought about for resin filling is polyurethane resin. They make several thin viscosity formulas and they readily tint to just about any color. For this type of work, I prefer PolyTek's EasyFlo 60, which comes stark white and cures wicked quick. I've also used Smooth-On's ColorMatch line (or whatever they call it) - and it is good, but takes longer to cure + a post cure @ 160 F is suggested (with electric space heater & foam heat box - no prob.). The EasyFlo 60 machines like butter...er like Butterboard too! - Haven't machined the SmoothOn stuff yet. The SmoothOn So-Strong tints work on both products.

Polyurethane in general has superior mechanical properties to either polyester or epoxy. It is less brittle and easier to machine and sand than either of the two as well. Smoothon even sells metalflake in just about any flavor of funky you want to get.

-B