Finishing Corian

[shinzam]

Hi
I am looking for advice on how to finish Corian to a nice polish shine.
I am intending to cut a chess set and board from Diana Thompson book chess sets you can make
Can you add a lacquer finish to it? Any help would be appreciated
Graham

[Steviegwood]

Hi Graham, I made a small desk clock for my wife out of corian and added just a few very light coats of spray lacquer. It gave it a very glossy finish. Be careful not to get to heavy of a coat as it will run. Steve

[gvr0213]

Hey Graham -

I have never put a finish on any of my corian cuttings.

Norton (probably others) make "Micro-Mesh" sanding packs. You sand the corian with each grit (start low 1500 ) and stop when you achieve the finish you want (I go to 12000). This will give you a nice glossy finish.

George

[Ken Dolph]

Shinzam

If you want the highest quality I agree with George. Micro-mesh is a great product for Corian. An alternative is to sand up to 2000 grit with 3M Wet-O-Dry. This is available where automotive paint supplies are sold. Then use the white automotive buffing compound on a buffing wheel. A better polishing product for Corian is Novus #2. This is available where you would buy sheets of acrylic.

If you would like to cheat and apply some coating, lacquer is not the best way to go. Lacquer does not bond well to Corian and can chip off with time. An automotive clear coat is better since it has a similar chemical makeup. I like Dupli-Color Engine Enamel. It goes on better, dries faster and is very durable.

If you want to know more about working with Corian get the booklet "How to Work with Corian in the Home Workshop". This publication from duPont is available free from Art Specialties International, Inc. 1-800-724-4008 They are a Corian distributor specifically for Art and Industrial uses. Their package also includes instructions for heating and bending Corian which is a lot of fun.

I hope this helps
Ken

[unixpro]

Third here for the sanding. I've done some nice pieces with Corian that I just sanded up. The non-cutting board pieces got the micromesh treatment, while the cutting boards were done up to 800.

[gvr0213]

Hey all -

Just adding two more cents -

Ken - since you agreed with me I will return the favor and vote also for buffing after sanding. This however will only work on pieces that do not have delicate fretwork. For all my christmas ornaments I stick with sanding - for larger fretwork crosses and cutting boards I use the bealle buffing system.

George

[shinzam]

Thanks for all the input I managed to find a UK supplier of Micro-mesh and I will order a few sheets and see how I get on.
Thanks Again Graham