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  • Counter/reception desk contruction.
  • elzorillo
    Free Member

    I’m in the situation where i have to build a reception desk for my daughter..

    I’m pretty good with wood, built staircases etc.. but never worked with this kind of material.. I dont even know what it’s made of :/

    Anyone give me any pointers please on the material and any tips on how it could be constructed?

    136stu
    Free Member
    aldo56
    Free Member

    Looks like a Corian or some other type of solid surface desk; very expensive material and hard to work with. Corian is Duponts version of a polymer sheet material.

    Genrally you build a ply or MDF subframe and clad it in the thinnest Corian you can get away with. It comes in various sheet thicknesses. Corners can be rounded off etc.

    These are then bonded together with a special filler and the joints sanded so they are no longer visable.

    I’m a furniture designer but my place outsources any Corian work as it’s quite a specalist thing.

    If your wanting a cheap / easy desk, get some MFC sheets from Egger or Kronospan and use 2mm ABS edging tape to finish the edges. You can double up the 18mm sheets and use a thicker edging tape to create worktop thickness panels. You wont get the seemless finish that Corian gives but it’ll be around 25% of the cost.

    elzorillo
    Free Member

    Thanks for the replies.. I did expect I’d have to make a wooden subframe. Just wondered what it was clad in and how they got the edges so good..

    Thanks again

    aldo56
    Free Member

    It is also possible to use sheets of laminate bonded onto a subframe but you are limited by the sheet size and getting seemless edges like the photo above is very time consuming.

    elzorillo
    Free Member

    Shoot me down here if it’s a stupid idea.. but what about constructing it in ply then (now here’s the crazy bit).. laminating it by bonding high gloss white lino?

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    high gloss white lino?

    You’re not really going to be able to bend those around those radiuses corners nicely

    If it was me being asked to make it and using something like Corian wasn’t an option….

    I’d use exterior grade MDF and good quality paint. Exterior grade boards sand and route really well and the cut edges don’t swell when painted – the cut edges machine to the same finish as the faces of the boards. Mitre all the panel joints rather than but them together then route a round-over. That puts the join line in the middle of that radius and pretty much invisible when filled/sanded painted.

    I’ve used this method for making posh exhibition plinths for galleries.

    With a bit of prep you could get a good finish with Acid Cat paint – its very robust paint (the medium is used for commercial floor varnishes, bar tops etc) and you can get it mixed in a wide range of different sheens. The stuff is a big deal to apply – its a two part concoction and thinned with xylene. It drys almost instantly when applied (you can fell the setting paint tugging at the brush!). The fast drying means you can apply, sand, apply, sand, repeat – building up a smooth finish in one day rather than having to let stuff cure for days or weeks between stages.

    It can work quite well with a brush but doesn’t roll on well. The best result as when its sprayed – probably best handing that over to a pro though unless you’re already kitted up for that.

    ‘Pre-cat’ paint is similar (its basically the two parts ready mixed) and can be bought in aerosol cans, which are a bit more diy friendly, but still xylene based.

    That sort of paint would be tough enough for most of the surfaces – but it would be probably worth while routing in recesses in high wear areas like the receptionist work surface and dropping a formica laminated bit of ply.

    elzorillo
    Free Member

    Thanks for the advice.. lots to think about :/

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