Custom Corian Sign Blank: 1/2″ Solid Surface Material

Today CNCROi.com will make a custom Corian sign blank for a customer that wishes to finish it up on their own but didn’t have the equipment to get it to the point you see in the end of this blog post.

Corian is a solid surface material, generally used for countertops but I’ve found it makes for a fantastically durable and quite nice looking signage as well, it can be easily machines (if you have the right machines and bits) and paint fills perfectly.

The other bonus of a custom Corian sign blank is durability in the elements, it’s basically compressed acrylic and is very durable outside, can be sanded repeatedly and re-paint filled down the line as well.

To carve out the shape the customer requires for their custom Corian sign blank, we used our CNC router, it did quick work of getting the two major elements complete, the outline with a rounded top along with two lines, the lines are parallel and perfectly straight to the rest of the sign… VERY IMPORTANT!

The type of Corian used for this custom Corian sign blank by CNCROi.com was half inch thick Matterhorn, there are over a hundred different combinations of colors and textures available, so a perfect Corian can be found to match the environment it will reside in.

After routering out the shape and intial specs of this custom Corian sign blank, it was time to flip over to the laser do add more details, the reason why the router wasn’t used for this secondary process is due to the fact that the lines were too sharp and narrow, having options for CNCROi.com customers is the best!

Our laser is capable of making high precision engraving into Corian and other solid surface materials.

CNCROi.com has done EXTENSIVE lasering of Corian, so not only can we cut it to just about any shape imaginable, we can also engrave just about anything onto it as well!

The advantage of the router is that it can cut the initial shape out of the Corian cost-effectively and accurately, repeatability is second to none regardless of the thickness required, and the advantage of the laser is that it can engrave just about anything on the surface in a highly detailed and precise repeatable manner as the “carving line” is about the thickness of a hair, using the best of both worlds is what makes CNCROi.com stand out when it comes to making a custom Corian sign blank.

Using the CNC laser for the engraving produces a nice rough texture at the bottom of the recess, as a result, the paint adheres all the better when compared to the smooth recess produced by a CNC router.

The synergy possible using the best of all CNC worlds is incredible, high precision, repeatable and best of all, accurate!

For this custom Corian sign blank, you can really see the distinct difference between the laser excavation of the Corian and the router excavation results, each has their place, and not one is any better than the other, it’s like comparing a boat to a car, both have their place depending on the requirements at hand.

Of course, the texture and color of the Corian is through the entire sheet, so just carving it out doesn’t produce the best contrast in the world, as a result, paint filling is required to make it really pop by CNCROi.com, the customer will be doing a lot more work after we ship this out though, their finished product will pop exponentially more once they are done their process.

This is my first CNC router, it’s over a decade old, and still does some incredible work, it’s just as precise as my big CNC router, just a bit slower and with a few less bells and whistles.

For affixing this custom Corian sign blank to the wall, the customer required two anchor points on the back, hence you see two holes at precise depths on the back of this custom Corian sign blank.

After the holes were made at CNCROi.com, it was time to flip the custom Corian sign blank over and start the paint filling process.

Corian can be carved using our router to just about any size or spec you require then further processed using other CNC machinery.

Covering as much of the surface as possible before doing the painting saves a lot of sand paper and also produces a more efficient result, less paint is wasted as I can focus on the area of the engraving without care of under or over spray happening on the sign.

The results before and after sanding are night and day, you can really start to gain an appreciation of the beauty of a solid surface sign and why CNCROi.com helps many customers with this type of project, it’s not only fun, but utilizes the most of our capabilities.

Outdoor plaques look great using Corian, they are long lasting, especially when indoors and can be customized however you wish.

The depth of the laser can’t be controled as precisely as the router, which has a two-way communication system on the depth (Z-axis), so if you need something dead-on to spec depth wise, that’s the best tool, the laser is more of a guestimation based on my experience making a custom Corian sign blank.

Here’s the finished custom Corian sign blank as far at CNCROi.com is involved, the next step is the customer adding their process for their customer to make this look FANTASTIC!

Need custom Corian signage? Contact CNCROi.com right now!