Solid Surface supplier ?

[mbaybut]

I want to have a go at using a solid surface counter top on cabinets I'm building. Can anybody tell me if I can buy this stuff by the sheet? Mike

[Mark L.]

[John Flatley]

Several years ago, I had thoughts of several craft and scroll saw projects using Corian. I was unable to buy Corian, so those projects fell of the project list.

We are having our kitchen re-modeled and last Thursday when the Corian man was here to make templates for our countertops, he said his company does sell the Corian now. However, he said they will not/can not sell the glue that allows seamless countertops to be fabricated. This seems like a change from what I had been told several years ago. II have not stopped by his company to buy any Corian to verify his story. Maybe later this year I resurrect those old projects.....

Jack

[Mark L.]

[J. Clarke]

I find myself wondering what's so important about the glue. Solvent-cementing of acrylic is hardly any deep dark secret, and I understand that working the stuff makes plenty of dust for filler--if it doesn't, one can always take a belt sander to a scrap.

[Unisaw A100]

Okee dokee, if you say so.

UA100

[Tom Watson]

This is exactly why Dupont licenses installers and fabricators. So that people don't screw things up and ruin the brand name in the process.

Regards, Tom.

Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.) tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

[Unisaw A100]

That's kinda/sorta the point i was trying to make. Thanks for confirming it didn't go over everyone's heads.

UA100, not licensed and Earl Flynn is still dead...

[Doug Winterburn]

Was he related to Errol Flynn?

[J. Clarke]

I note that neither of you has given any indication that solvent cementing using methylene chloride and Corian dust will be unsatisfactory in any manner whatsoever. Do you have any reason to believe that it will?

[Eric Ryder]

You probably won't have any luck getting the Corian/Dupont brand. I haven't had any trouble buying the Formica brand SS, but I'm just getting their sheet stock. Another product "Amerite?" is available from the maker - I've no experience with it.

[jo4hn]

Leon Errol.

[Tom Watson]

You know, they often call him Speedo but his real name is Mr. Earl.

Regards, Tom.

Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.) tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

[Tom Watson]

The problem that I'm having with this is that you are fixating on the chemistry, to the exclusion of other considerations.

What about the selection of the sheets for color matching?

What about the proper type and preparation of the substrate?

What about the choice of choice of acceptable methods to cut the sheets?

What about the proper tolerances for straightness and the gap between joined sheets?

What about the proper clamping pressure at the seam?

What about how much to overfill the seam and what techniques are best to deal with that?

What about the proper radius that's allowed in the cutouts?

In areas where cutouts are for stovetops, there is a specific 3M tape that is used as a backer at the seam - what kind is it?

What about the mixing time of the seam kit? Should you knead by hand, or put the tube in the clamp on you half-sheet sander, and run the sander for how long?

Speaking of sanders, what is the best type to use and what grits should you start with?

What type of abrasive is best?

If you want to bring it up to a gloss, what grits and compounds are used to do this?

The above is certainly not an exhaustive listing - merely a friendly warning.

Regards, Tom.

Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.) tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

[Unisaw A100]

Only by DuPont's standards.

UA100

[Unisaw A100]

Avonite.

UA100

[Unisaw A100]

Tom Watson wrote: mucho snippage...

And while way wordier than what I'd written what Tom is really trying to say is, "Only by DuPont's standards".

UA100

[Tom Watson]

I wouldn't want to leave the man with the impression that Dupont's seam kit is nothing more than meth chloride and some Corian dust.

It's really a two part epoxy mixture that has to be mixed before application and has to fill the entire seam - top to bottom and front to back - once the joint is closed up.

The meth chloride and dust would partially dissolve the Corian but the result would have no strength and a crack line would eventually form.

Regards, Tom.

Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.) tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

[Tom Watson]

Yep, and the Avonite is a polyester based product and needs different treatment than Corian, which is acrylic based.

[Mark & Juanita]