Refinishing Corian

[coachconverter]

Just an FYI, in case any of you have some scratched Corian, I undertook the endeavor of refinishing 4 tables today and they turned out beautiful.

These were from a Limo bus and were pretty well abused with scratches and graffiti, someone had carved there name into one.  So I had two choices, either pitch them or try sanding them.  After looking up on the web, I tried the SoftScrub and ScotchBrite method, to no result.

So I dove in and started with 100 grit paper on an orbital palm sander, which was scary, but really removed layers of material.  I basically used this to get about 90% through the depth of the scratches, doing the entire surface to keep things flat.  After that I stepped up from 100, to 150, to 220, to 400, to 600, to 1000 and finally 1500.  The last 4 grits I did wet and it left it smooth as glass.  After that I used a buffer and polishing compound and finished up with a good waxing, which finally made it look as dark as I knew it should be (black with white specks).

4 Booth tabletops, about 40 pads or sheets of sand paper and nearly 12 hours of work and they look like new!

I post this because I was hesitant to try it, but man I'm glad I did, these will really spiff up a bus I'm preparing to sell.

Todd

[PP]

Good information Todd. With so many of us having Corian in our buses, this may come in handy. I was equally hesitant about taking sandpaper to the stainless skin on my bus, but until I did, I couldn't get past the brushed look. Thanks and keep the good posts coming, Will & Wife

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Todd,

Last July I tried to polish my dinette top and it came out horrible.. Mostly because it is a black speckle mirror finish corion.

I removed the top and took it to my counter top guy and for 25 dollars he made it look better then when it was new.

I asked him how he did it and he wouldn't tell me... But he did call me as soon as it was done and said,

"get this thing out of here before the wind scraches it" LOL

Nick-

[jjrbus]

Hmmmmm I wonder    When working with plexiglas to clean up a cut edge I sand it down a bit, then go after it with a torch, it is perfect when done.  Anybody got a scrap piece of corian to tryi it on??    Jim

[PP]

Hmmmmm I wonder    When working with plexiglas to clean up a cut edge I sand it down a bit, then go after it with a torch, it is perfect when done.  Anybody got a scrap piece of corian to tryi it on??    Jim

I sure hope you're jesting with us 

[luvrbus]

I start with a 500 grit diamond polishing pad and go to 3000 grit look likes a mirrior when finshed with the Corian  good luck

[jjrbus]

No totally serious. Works perfectly with plexigals, Lets see what else Have I done?? My hubometer was is such poor condition I could barly read the numbers, cleaned it up with sandpaper and then torched it, looks new, except  one spot I over torched!!  The oil viewing areas on my front wheels got the same treatment.
A torch used with finess on some plastics will melt the surface and restore it to like new, I have never tried it on something large.
I do not know much about corian, other than it is plastic, might work?? Or maybe for some reason should not be tried       Jim

[luvrbus]

Jim, I know the torch will work on headlights seen a car wash in Phoenix use it to remove scratches the owner said the brushes caused   good luck

[PP]

Jim,
I believe the torch works on normal dense plastics as you've stated, but I think I'll stick to sanding and polishing on the Corian. 
Luvrbus, I didn't know about headlight lenses. Do you remove them first?

[luvrbus]

Will they didn't remove the lights just used what looked like a foil tape around them looked new when it was finshed. I am going to find a old plastic headlight assembly some day and try it    good luck

[PP]

Luvrbus, let us all know when you do. I for one am curious. Those headlight lenses are awful thin.

[luvrbus]

Will, they are thin and expensive a kid scratched one with his bike on the Lexus and the dealer wants over $500.00 for the piece of plastic   good luck

[PP]

Luvrbus, I just replaced the right one on my Liberty at $105 plus labor. The guy told me I was lucky, "jeep parts are cheap" is what he said as he took my money  I don't believe a torch will fix holes from tree limbs that reach out into the road no matter what anyone says LOL

[dkhersh]

Jim,

    I fabricate solid surface tops for a living everyday and I can assure you that the flame polishing probably would ruin your day in the end.  Extreme hot and cold temps are one of the worst enemy's of solid surface Acrylics.  Some brands like Livingstone are closer to the make up of Plexiglas and would (may) take the heat without fracturing.  I'll tell you about a lesson learned.  I did a very large set of tops for a kitchen about 6 years ago in the dead of winter.  when I left the shop, the delivery crew thought they would, get a head start on the next days work, so they went ahead and loaded them into the box truck.  Long story short the tops were in the box truck all night and the temps went down to about 10 degrees that night.  The guys were gone with them when I got to the shop, so I assumed they had just loaded them, and went that morning.  The guys off loaded all the tops into a 70 degree house and set them in place in the kitchen for the installation crew.  About noon I get a call about a damaged top and go to the job site and yep, there was damage OK.  All six tops, about 70 linear feet of top that is, looked as if they were struck by lightning.  This is the best example I have witnessed, of what happens to solid surface under quick temp changes. 

    As far as refinishing it, Clifford is on the nose.  For those of you who don,t work with it.  Sand it as you would your automotive paints and you'll be fine.  We use micron sand paper,but you will get the same results with automotive wet sanding.  Duel action sander is highly recommended over a jitterbug sander.  I start sanding my face seams with a belt sander and 40, yes 40 grit paper so you know its pretty easy to sand down.  Just to clarify, as I don't want you to start with 40 grit.  If you have  (white) scratches start refinishing with 220 grit, if they are just scuffs 320 is fine. Work your way up to the luster of finish you desire.  Polishing compounds are not needed  nor recommended.  Just make sure your sander is flat at all times and keep moving. Don't use lacquer based products as they "eat into the acrylics.  If you need to clean something off of them use denatured alcohol and you will be fine.

[jjrbus]

Thanks for the professional input DK, not all of my ideas recieve patent"s but I deep trying. I am glad I posted  as my headlights are a mess. I will be out at accident scenes looking for scraps to practice on!  Jim