[Harp-L] Re: new material

[Chris Reynolds <c_reynolds2571@xxxxxxxxx>]

Corian is a fairly durable material, and it's actually one of my favorite materials to work with because it machines so easily, so I'm not saying that it isn't a good material, not in the least. What I was getting at is that the fibers running through the micarta increases it's durability. So it's not that corian isn't a good material, it's just that micarta is more durable. The fibers running through it increase it's strength, or probably more accurately put the rigidity of the material. It's like fiberglass, the strength doesn't come from the resin, it comes from the glass fibers, the same is similarly true with micarta, the resin bonds the layers together, but it's the layers of material that give it it's strength. Corian doesn't have any kind of reinforcing material within the resin that it's made from, it's essentially resin and colors. So please don't take that as me bashing corian, I'm a fan of the material, I just think that the micarta is an
 even more durable material with similar characteristics.  I thought about doing some durability tests with the two as a comparison, things like drop tests, or applying a known amount of force in the middle of the comb while supporting it at the ends and measuring the deflection, but quite honestly I don't know when I would be able to get around to doing it. I'm pretty busy these days with orders. 


However just to clear things up, I'm not trying to put corian down as a material, just stating my opinion that I think micarta is stronger and more durable. However that said, micarta is only available in a limited range of colors as where corian runs the whole spectrum. hahaha
 
To answer the last question, linen means that the material is made by bonding many many layers of fabric together with resin to create the sheet of material. 


Chris Reynolds


Owner - BlowYourBrassOff.com - Maker of fine custom harmonicas
http://www.blowyourbrassoff.com


>Chris Reynolds wrote:
>I've decided to start offering micarta combs as well now. They have a similar feel to corian but are much more durable,especially the linen 
>micarta combs. 
>
>Chris, nice website (http://www.buildero fstuff.com/ harpsforsale. html), beautiful combs. (I love the rounded tines.)  Nice vids.  The solo at the 
>beginning of Todd Parrot's vid (Harmonica Hero #1) is killer.  And the solo at 2:08 in the 3rd vid (Playable Art) is just fantastic.  Must be Jason 
>Ricci.  Anyway, just curious - in what way is corian not durable?  And what is meant by linen?
>ron