Hey 3cm afficianatos,

What do you think of a 3cm translucent product like the samples I made up here?  This is a poly-blend material similar to Avonite's ICE series but  only  in 3cm?  Now you don't have some of the labor intensive issues you have with the half inch product such as painting the bottom or wrestling with the shadows from built up edges.  Back lighting is still possible and embedding tube lights is more practical.  Any thoughts? Or should I just stick to the reglar stuff?  :) 

If you want to back light this you need to get the light as far away from the material as possible. The closer the light source is to the material the brigher a "hot spot" you will have.  Also being a poly material, I would want to keep any heat as far away as possible also. We stock the 1/2" material and its really not a problem to fabricate it to eliminate shadows.  The thicker material would eliminate some of the light transfer which would require more light (and heat) to acheive the same look .  The meganite product is not quite as translucent as Avonite (having sold both), but its much less expensive and, stronger.   I have to believe the meganite product has more ATH than the Avonite product, as its not as brittle as Avonite.

I met today with a homeowner that is getting this in their kitchen. After discussing fabrication with the fabricator he asked me to clearify things with the home owner.   For the record, we installed one of the first glass kitchen counters when Avonite come out with this product, it has been replaced once, and is in need of replacement again.  Part of the problem is since its almost totally poly resin, it moves more than standard products and thermal (hot and cold) is more of a problem. Also color fastness is a problem. I have not had these problems with the Meganite and have done a number of jobs using it, including a large bar at the Tucson Best Western Hotel. 

I would think staying with 1/2" material, especially if it is to be backlight, would be more advantages than using the 3 cm product.   If not going to backlight then the 3 cm would eliminate some fabrication steps.

Fred, 

The Meganite distributor in your area is Maxstone and I have an email into Wayne to see what their plans are. 

http://www.maxstoneusa.com/

Charlie

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Thanks Charlie!   Yes maxstone is our distributor and it seems they are very ilmited in the Meganite colors they stock.  I did not realize this until one of my customers asked for a quote on a color Maxstone does not stock.  I went fishing on the net and found another distributor with a ton of colors Maxstone never told me existed.  I did not even know they had and Ice series for instance.

Norm

I don't but I should be going down to Tucson next week and I'll stop and take a few. 

Meganite is an interesting company. They make a full line of Acrylic and a line of Poly colors. None of the distributors stock all of either product.  Its difficult to stock 100 colors in the quanties needed to service the market, esp when 20% of your colors are 80% of sales.  They should be able to get the colors (such as the ice) for you from another distirubutor.  The dist I have met are all good people and willing to help each other out.