Filling acrylic

[magic]

I have black acrylic, V carved. I want to fill it in with white.

The type is only .4 tall & for indoor use.

Should I just buy some white, 2 part epoxy at HD?

[myxpykalix]

Have you thought about using corian as an inlay?

[magic]

The letters are very small. An inlay is probably too fragile.

I have thought coloring a two part epoxy with something white but I don't know which compounds (brand) will work.

[Gary Campbell]

magic..
Use white Corian (or generic brand) adhesive. They are methacrylates and will bond well to acrylic.
Gary

[magic]

Thank you. I always thought Corian came in a sheet form so this must be it's adhesive.

Can I buy it at HD, Ace or Lowes? Or should I read all available packages for similar ingredients?

Side note: I thought about melting white acrylic in a solvent bottle and squeezing some in the groove, but then again...the V carving is so small that it would just overflow - and- the customer does not want to resurface the piece. He should have come to me first - before he polished the surface.

[Gary Campbell]

magic...
I dont know if the big box stores have it, as I avoid them like the plague. As a rule they dont carry the professional grades, but if they sell solid survace tops, they may have it.

You will have to slightly overfill and surface any poured fill material, methacrylate, epoxy or whatever. Time to educate the client.
Gary

[magic]

Thanks

[scottbot]

Hey Magic,
Most Solid Surface countertop products (Corian and other similar products) are made from acrylic. Some are made from polyester. I have done a fair bit of inlay work using both the acrylic and the polyester products.
My prefered method to create the inlay is to v-carve the design and/or the text first. After the v-carve is done I clean the cut with alcohol or methyl hydrate. Next I build up a dam around the cut using hot melt glue so I can pour the resin above the surface height of the countertop. This gives any bubbles a place to go. I use a waxed polyester resin for the pour and mix pigment in to suit. I get the resin from the local marine supply shop.

I have used the Solid Surface Adhesive as an inlay material in the past but won't use it again. You won't be able to find it at the big box stores. It requires a special and expensive gun to dispense it. And most of all it is really prone to bubbles that don't float to the top because the adhesive is so thick. Personally I find it to be a royal pain in the shorts. I swore off it after the last time I used it.

I have some pictures of recent inlay jobs but I'm typing this on my iPhone and don't think I can reduce the file size of the photos to get them on the forum. I can upload them later from my laptop.

My 2 cents.

Scott

[Gary Campbell]

magic...
Scott makes some good points. Many of the solid surface products are only sold to certified fabricators. I took for granted the mixing guns. They are expensive, especially when more than 1 size or ratio is required.

If you do use the solid surface adhesive as we do, we have found the viscosity not that much different than polyester or vinylester resins. We have also found them to have better adhesion with high levels of pigment than resins with pigment added. To guard against bubbles in any of the above or epoxy, we use a few seconds from a high temp heat gun. This lowers both the viscosity and the surface tension and virtually removes all bubbles. It also allows the material to creep into every crevice.

I have also not noticed as much shrinkage as Scott reports using this method. After the heat up, a couple drops on the surface allows a domed profile that only occasionally need a second application. On deeper V joints (over 1/4") 2 applications are required. There is no material I know of that wont shrink at that depth.
Gary

[scottbot]

Hey Magic,
Here are a couple of pictures of recent inlays I've done.
They are both in the same countertop which is installed in a cabinet shop in town.
Both are poured with waxed poyester resin that has been coloured by adding a small amount of pigment.
The cresent moon inlay goes all the way through to the back side and is back lit with an LED panel. The countertop is Avonite Comet and the moon is Avonite Frosted Glass.
The letters in Maejic are .485" tall and the letters in surfacing are .350" tall.

The base material looks different in the 2 pics because I played around with some camera filters on the moon picture. The other picture is closest to the actual colour.

Scott


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