[KCWOOD]

Fabricating my first Formica solid surface… had a person  that wanted me to do the work for her,, so i ordered the sheets.

Does it bother anyone the lines on the back has to be sanded out, all surfaces abraded before adhesive?  I was always use to doing all that with the Avonite poly… but I was getting paid really good to do all that.
Do you think it scratches more or less..?

I know Mory fabs a ton of it… I love the price and the distributor is a fantastic group of people… BPI Nashville…  

Just wondering???

[Andy Graves]

We always beltsand the lines off the back of the material with 150 grit. Not sure it’s required, but we do it anyway to remove all the dirt and oil.

[Bill Wolle]

Kelsey,
Formica solid surface was a poly the last time I looked. It should follow the same processes as the Avonite poly for fabrication.

[KCWOOD]

Thanks Bill…  I’ve worked with a lot of Avonite.. this just seems different?

[Jon Olson]

Just made one these Formica chairs.Had to sand every layer  .

[KCWOOD]

Smartass…  lol… good grief Jon, that is freaking awesome…  is it solid??

[Andy Graves]

Is that thing comfortable?

[Len Smith]

I think it is a polyester. Maybe Lenny knows something about the composition, it’s made in China.

[KCWOOD]

Yes Len it is a poly. The back is so rough, you have to sand it smooth to eliminate a white line showing during edge buildup.  

I’m surprised noone has commented on it on here if customers have liked it or not being a poly?

[Jeff Vickers]

Len,

I have used quite a bit of Formica s/s and have found that it is softer than the acrylics (shows scratches & wear easily) However I have a nice piece of Black Wolf in my dining room (low use area).
Formica s/s has been withdrawn in the UK.

Jeff

[Len Smith]

I stopped using Formica because it seemed like every time we bought some of their material, something broke. Sometimes a sheet would break just from turning it over, if the sheet wasn’t kept totally in plane while flipping it. Now almost all of the work we do is covered by the Buy American Act, so I can’t offer their product even if I wanted to.

I don’t have to worry about that type of breakage with 100% acrylics.

[John Christensen]

Yup.  That is why I love acrylics.  Plus I rally can’t stand the smell of poly when you cut it.  Even if it smells like money, it smells like yucky money.

Johnny C

[Lenny E]

Hi guys I just found this.

You are correct, Formica SS is a polyester blend and the fabrication methods Formica recommends are similar to working with an Avonite polyester product.

Yes the material is different than acrylic and it has its advantages and disadvantages. It is more brittle, but it resists solvents much better than acrylics and it’s easier to provide patterns with the depth that designers like. I could go on and on, but those of you who work with multiple materials are familiar with all the nuances.

As for the hardness issue it’s just as hard as an acrylic solid surface. Last time I checked the barcol hardness was generally in the 62-64 range.

The scratching differences are interesting. Darker patterns manufactured from both poly blend and acrylic materials scratch exposing the filler resulting in a white line. But the morphology of the scratch is different. If you examine the scratch under high magnification the polyester blend scratching cross section is more of a sharp V. The acrylic scratch cross section is more of a U shape, so the scratch tends to be more noticeable in a poly blend.

As for the back sanding that is per Formica specification. Since the interface of polyester blends need to be sanded prior to joining I am betting Formica thinks they are doing you a favor by providing the back sanding they do.
Changing the grit on back sanding is easy. It’s a belt change. If you contact the Formica folks, I am sure they could provide a back sanding that is to your liking.

Formica seems to sell quite a bit of the material. I think they have a broad niche.

[Andy Graves]

We some breakage on the CNC when we cut fast or have a small corner. Not a real huge problem but like Lenny said, the designers love the material.

[KCWOOD]

lenny, If you don’t sand out the lines on the back, you get a white line on the edge buildup.

I could have done 2 jobs,  while messing with this stuff… it is a dark color, hard to sand…  I guess I can say been there done that…

Len you are right… if you handle it wrong it breaks….   We flipped a straight 9 ft piece over, and when the bottom edge rolled against my MDF table tops, pieces chipped off the edge… Had to re-route the front edge…
We have had to fix 5 chipped places just from handling….
I love the Avonite poly…. this stuff is different…  

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