Bespoke Drinks Coasters

[Wal]

Hello all.

This started as a woodworking project before the decision was made that making these in wood was going to be a nightmare - both in terms of finding dark exotic stock in the sizes and quantities that were needed, the ethical aspect of using all that stock and the expense and the wastage (both in time and material) that any tear-out around the details would lead to. In addition to all that, the aesthetics of the overall design asked for something a bit different too.

Eventually the design team settled for Corian - oh yes, still expensive but a lot more stable and predictable to work with.

Anyway, I present to you the new cocktail coasters for the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London. Yes, that one..!



This was a real mission of a project. Each coaster is engraved (using 0.6 and 0.4mm cutters) and resin filled. The top faces along with machined edges and transitions into the round-overs all needed to be hand finished through multiple grades of wet and dry before getting rubbed down with Scotchbrite and finally polished. No micro-scratches allowed. I had 125 to make. Days and days of sanding/polishing - my arm barely worked by the end of it..!

A really nice project to be a part of - must pop down for a drink one of these days..!

Wal.

[magicniner]

Lovely work!
I don't suppose you were allowed to put a maker's name on the back?

[Wal]

I think something small and tasteful would have been permitted - although it would more than likely have been the design agency that got first dibs on that..!

Wal.

[cropwell]

Nice work Wal.

Rob-T

[mekanik]

Cracking job Wal

[EddyCurrent]

Very nice indeed, what did you use to put the radius around the top edge ?

[Wal]

Thanks guys.

Eddy, I used a 3mm radius one of these:

https://www.shop-apt.co.uk/corner-ro...ide-45hrc.html

- you can see it in action here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv-Zbb4n..._web_copy_link

They're really useful tools - I use mine a fair bit. You program it as a 1.5mm tool (tip diameter), touch off the tip and plunge it to a depth of 3mm - in reality you might want to leave it just shy of 3mm, too deep is less forgiving than a tiny bit too shallow...

Wal.

[needleworks]

Hats off to you Wal, those look fantastic, very nice

I've often thought about getting some corian, but could never find any offcuts and a full sheet would just be too expensive for playing around with.

[Wal]

Yeah - a full sheet set me back £780..!

I imagine I could have got it cheaper directly from the manufacturer, but they won't sell it to you unless you're an approved fabricator - ie. taken their instructional course in how to use it (cut, glue etc.)

You just need to get lucky in terms of finding off-cuts. A lot of what's out there has metallic flecks etc, so might not be suitable for the intended purpose.

Wal.

[cropwell]

Hi Wal,

What thickness was the corian sheet? did you have to cut it to thinner pieces ? I have some beige pieces left over from the kitchen refit, about 25mm thick. Not Corian but a stone filled acrylic, similar to the DuPont product, but half the price.

Cheers,

Rob