[Mountaincraft]

Anyone used their machine to shallow engrave in soft stone, like sandstone?

How about harder stone, like granite?...

Anything special required for this?

Pro's and con's?

[Mountaincraft]

Sounds like Granite will be out of the question.. but I can use the router to make masks for sandblasting...

But what about sandstone, soapstone, marble?

I'm talking about very shallow 2D engraving...

Anyone try it with a wood machine? Does it absolutely require water?

Is dust controllable? I wouldn't want it to get up into the router...

[p38nut]

Sounds like Granite will be out of the question.. but I can use the router to make masks for sandblasting...

But what about sandstone, soapstone, marble?

I'm talking about very shallow 2D engraving...

Anyone try it with a wood machine? Does it absolutely require water?

Is dust controllable? I wouldn't want it to get up into the router...

I regularly do Corian(tm) with out water. Comes out just fine.

[Mountaincraft]

I regularly do Corian(tm) with out water. Comes out just fine.

What do you use for bits?

Does corian contain stone at all, or is it completely synthetic?
What does it compare to hardness wise, marble?

[RossMosh]

Corian is acrylic. It's easily routed and carved. It gives the look of stone without the hassle of actually being stone. Find a local company who produces counter tops and get some scraps off them.

As for the hardness, it's not stone. It's acrylic. It is what it is. Go to Home Depot and check it out if you're curious. They have samples.

Bits, you want to use acrylic bits. 1 or 2 flute end mills are used for cutting. Carving 1-2 flute ball nose or V bits are common. You can use essentially any wood bit for edge work. Corian is one of the most router friendly materials you can work with. The only con is it is kind of stinky.

[awerby]

which isn't easy - granite and harder stones take special diamond tooling and a water blast. But the dust that's created from carving even soft stones - and especially things like sandstone - will destroy any sliding parts of your CNC router pretty quickly.

Of course there are special machines, mostly made in Italy, which specialize in stone work. They have well-shielded working parts, and are made to withstand wet abrasive slurry. I suppose you could fit everything with waterproof bellows if you really want to get into this. But if you're just wanting to do shallow 2d work, the masking and abrasive blasting method is a lot easier, cheaper, and quicker.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[JC50]

Corian is the brand name for (I think) Dupont's line of solid surface counter tops. Evidently, Corian has become the accepted generic name for solid surface materials. There are many other brands out there, but the only one to come to mind is LG Hi Max.

It is a petroleum based man made material. It can be cut with normal wood working equipment, such as a table saw, routers, etc and works beautifully. I use it alot for engraving/V-bit carving house signs. Easy to work with. I do my engraving and/or v carving, then paint the engraved/v carved areas with whatever color I desire, and then sand the surface to an almost glass like shine. I go all the way to 1000 grit sand paper and the end result is a spectacular finish and shine.

Unless you want to invest big $$$$$ into specialized equipment to cut natural stones, i.e. granite, marble, etc, I'd stick with solid surface. You'll get the look of natural stone but you can use regular wood working equipment.

[ger21]

There are many other brands out there, but the only one to come to mind is LG Hi Max.

Wilsonart (Gibraltar)
Formica
Avonite
Meganite

Most are acrylic, but some Avonite colors are polyester, and smell like fiberglass when you cut them. Those tend to be more translucent, and much lighter weight. Much more brittle, too.

[Mountaincraft]

Corian is acrylic. It's easily routed and carved. It gives the look of stone without the hassle of actually being stone. Find a local company who produces counter tops and get some scraps off them.

As for the hardness, it's not stone. It's acrylic. It is what it is. Go to Home Depot and check it out if you're curious. They have samples.

Bits, you want to use acrylic bits. 1 or 2 flute end mills are used for cutting. Carving 1-2 flute ball nose or V bits are common. You can use essentially any wood bit for edge work. Corian is one of the most router friendly materials you can work with. The only con is it is kind of stinky.

I've worked with corian before.. Just not with a router... Primarily just installing pre-cut stuff.. I was just curious if it had anything other than plastics in it that would require special bits...

What I'm 'really' interested in right now, is engraving sandstone tiles... wondering if it's something I can consider doing on this rig...

[Ken Dolph]

Corian is mostly ATH a very fine powder of a soft mineral. It is about 30% acrylic binder. It will not harm your cutting tools. It is best to use a slow feed rate. Because if you fill your gullets you will create a fine dust rather than shavings. This dist will adsorb the oils from your bearings. If you want to learn more about working with Corian, check out this website: art specialties international, inc..

Someone said it is stinky. That would mean that you are overheating it. Slow feed rate and sharp tools will solve that.

I hope this helps
Ken

[louieatienza]

There is also Founainhead, which was once distributed by Nevamar but I believe now by Formica. I know for sure that unless you're a licensed fabricator, you won't be able to get Corian, Fountainhead, or Avonite unless you get fropoffs from a fabricator. Formica also sells Surrell, which you should be able to purchase.

I don't think you necessarily have to go slow with the stuff, as long as you match up your doc and and spindle speed. Since you do not have speed control yet, I'd probably use higher feeds and smaller doc. Corian cuts nicely, the other stuff good, but not like Corian. I also use straight bits with an open flute design to help clear the chips.

[Ken Dolph]

louie

Surrell is now Formica Solid Surface and I believe it is still all polyester.

duPont set up a system for selling small pieces of Corian without being a licensed fabricator. That is what art specialties international, inc. does.

Mountaincraft:

If you do not have speed control, no worries. I have never been able to get the duPont CNC guys to give me a best speed. I have not found one better than another either. But feed rate does have a lot of effect. Corian. though not hard, is tough. It gets tougher with temperature. High feed rates translates to heat. You can cut full depth in one pass. I will do it even with a 1/4 horse spindle.

I hope this helps
Ken

[stevespo]

I don't know about sandstone, but I have a friend who has cut (dry) marble without any problems. It's soft enough to rout fairly well with carbide tooling. With any mineral you'd want to use some VERY good dust collection.

I have cut glass, granite and even harder materials (agate, quartz) with diamond abrasive tooling in a water bath. These are very hard materials and they are very hard on tooling. There are some grades of carbide tool that are designed for these materials, but I never had a chance to really test them out.

If you immerse the piece in a water bath, then dust is not an issue. Flood coolant can also be very helpful, particularly using an additive designed for stone work. I used an adhesive wax (AquaBond) to hold the parts and it easily releases with heat. Some of the additives will break down the wax, so you need to test compatibility or just use tap water.

I don't know what your machine is like, but a quality spindle and mass are going to be helpful. I did this on my aluminum bench top router and it worked ok, but not a great setup by any means.

Steve

[ger21]

Corian. though not hard, is tough. It gets tougher with temperature.

I think we've had this discussion before somewhere else. Imo, what you're saying is entirely false.

If heat makes it tougher, then why is it heated up to soften it for thermoforming. Put it in an oven, and you can bend it into just about any shape you want. Heat dulls tools, but it doesn't make Corian tougher.

High feed rates translates to heat.

The way to reduce heat at a cutting tool is to reduce rpm, or increase feedrate. Reducing feedrate increases heat.

Regardless, when cutting solid surface, use a sharp tool designed for hard plastics, and it'll cut like butter. I usually cut it in one pass at 600ipm and 15,000 rpm with a 3 flute low helix spiral bit. (15HP spindle, though) As long as you don't cut anything else with the bits, they'll last a long time. Even cutting a single piece of MDF will cause it to dull much faster.

Fwiw, our shop has used well over $150,000 worth of solid surface in the last year. So I have a little experience with it.

[Ken Dolph]

Gerry

Experience and study are two different things.

Generally things get tougher as they get softer. The harder things are generally more brittle. Brittle is the opposite of tough.


I know that we have been here before. And I won't get into it.

[Ashishkumar]

Sandstone is most widely used material in the floors. Really these are very hard to cut so mostly people use diamond cutting tools.