Marine Grade Starboard

Marine Grade Polymer How-Tos

Marine Grade Polymer, Care & Maintenance

Because King StarBoard is made to withstand constant abuse from sun, water and the harsh weather of the marine environment, it will not rot, warp or discolor and can be kept in its best form with some simple cleaning. Also, because it is chemically resistant, only the harshest solvents and acids will have any effect on the Below are some tips to help keep your King StarBoard parts looking new.

• Do not use teak oil or other wood preservatives
• Do not mark with pens or markers - use china markers or wax pencils only
• Clean up gasoline spills immediately with water and soap
• Do not attempt to paint King StarBoard
• When walking on King StarBoard, avoid hard black soles that will leave difficult to remove scuff marks
• For everyday stains and dirt, use a cleaner like Soft Scrub and a nylon scrub brush, but scrub lightly
• If you have a persistent stain, you can soak the area with bleach to remove it (avoid 100% chlorine)
• Do not use a pressure washer
• Citrus cleaners, alcohol or mineral spirits will clean a petroleum stain (grease or oil)
• Avoid turpentine, MEK, or naphtha solvent
• Armor-All or other furniture polishes can be used to add luster to the finish but DO NOT use on walking surfaces

King Plastic Using Hand Held Cutting Tools (Video)

Here is a great video showing you how easy King Plastics are to cut with several different types of hand tools.

Video Transcript

Plastic distributors and fabricators everywhere are discovering exiting new business opportunities when using polymer sheet stack from King Plastic. The possible uses are endless with a product that works like wood. King StarBoard ST can be cut with all kinds of saws; pen saws, circular saws, hand saws, table saws, and jig saws.

Cutting King StarBoard ST sheets does not produce noticeable airborne dust.

The optimum circular blade for cutting polyethylene is a 1/8" curve carbide tip 0.125 tooth per inch saw blade. Slower feed rates will minimize chatter marks on the cut edge. The surface of the material which is in contact with the saw table or base should be protected by leaving the protected masking on the sheet.

Quality polymer sheets from King Plastic Corporation are ideal for all types of residential and outdoor cabinets, furniture, and storage, restroom partitions, signage, lockers, even antimicrobial furnishings for healthcare environments. King Plastic polymer sheets work like wood and last a lifetime.

Using Adhesives on King Starboard Plastics (Video)

Here is a great video showing the best procedures to prep king plastics for adhesives.

Video Transcript

We are frequently asked how to apply and use adhesives with our products. So we wanted to take this opportunity to show you the proper procedure of prepping our King Plastic polymer sheet products for most adhesives designed for plastics.

King Plastic Corporation does not represent any of these products, make any claims about their abilities or accept liability for them. We want to remind you that generally, bonding polyethylene with adhesives does not result in a permanent structural bond like mechanical fastening or welding. Please determine the suitability of using an adhesive yourself with proper testing. To begin the adhesion process, make sure you have everything you need for the treating. As seen here, a sheet of 120 grid sandpaper, a cleaning solvent such as acetone, toluene, or alcohol, and a propane torch, your selected adhesive of choice and appropriate clamps to secure the bonded parts without damaging the finish of the StarBoard.

Proper surface preparation of your polymer is critical when using adhesives. First, lightly sand the King Star Board surfaces to be bonded with 120 grid sandpaper. Now, clean the surface with a solvent such as acetone, toluene, or alcohol. Allow solvent to fully evaporate. Move solvent and other flammable liquids and materials from work area. Following the operating precautions on your propane torch, ignite the flame. Working in a safe and well-ventilated area, hold the torch so the flame is approximately 1" - 2" inches, or 2.5 cm - 5 cm away and the blue oxidizing portion of the flame is on the StarBoard surface to be binded.

Pass the flame over the surface at a rate of approximately 12"or 30 cms for 3 seconds. For this example, the total time the material should be exposed to the flame, should be 2 - 3 seconds, about 1/2 second per stroke. This light exposure should not deform or melt the polymer in any way. You may see a shadowing effect as a flame passes across the surface, this is normal. Make sure to let the polymer cool before proceeding.

Test the effectiveness of your flame treatment of the flame surface by wetting it water. If the water beads up like on a freshly waxed car, the treatment was not effective. If the water sheets or lays flat on a surface like on an unwaxed car, the treatment was effective and the surface is ready for binding. If you are unsure if the surface is ready, compare the water's action on a treated area with an untreated area.

For the best adhesion, bind the product within 30 minutes of treatment as the flame treatment is temporary and declines in effectiveness with time. If you get interrupted and cannot complete the binding within an hour or two, you should retreat the surface again before proceeding. Then following the instructions from the adhesive manufacturer, apply the glue evenly in the surface in a back and forth motion. Apply the pieces to be bonded together making sure they are positioned correctly. Then lightly clamp in place.

Ideally, wipe-off any excess adhesive that may have squeezed out before it cures. Let the bond cure for the manufacturer's recommended timeframe before removing the clamps.

For more information, and tips for fabrication and use, visit www.KingPlastic.com.

General CNC Tips and Techniques (Video)

Here is an awesome video talking about CNC tips and techniques when drilling.

Video Transcript

King Star Board ST has become one of the most popular building materials because it works like wood with familiar wood-working tools and techniques. This video will give a few important CNC tips to help you learn to deliver quality results with our polymer sheets.

Tool manufacturers such as Andre and Vortex classify the King Star family of products as soft plastic in their catalogs and information. This is important because the geometry of the bit changes given the material that it is intended to cut.

For most applications, you want to cut King StarBoard products with an up cut old fluid bit. Old fluid bits tend to leave a quality finish over other styles of bits.

You want to keep the cutting edge length of bits as short as possible determined by the gauge of material to keep chatter to a minimum. Checking your tool in the tool holder as far as possible is also important in reducing chatter but do not go past the shank. No cutting edge should be in the tool holder.

For bits 1/4" - 1/2" in diameter, we keep our rpms at 18,000 to 20,000 and the feed rate at 150 to 250 inches per minute. You'll find that the rpm and inches per minutes necessary to achieve a quality cut vary from machine to machine. Your inches per minutes is determined by the rigidity of the CNC machine you're using and the amount of material you're removing with each pass.

If your RPMs are significantly different than 18,000 and 20,000 your inches per minutes will also be different. As a good rule of thumb, you should only cut as deep as the diameter of the tool to achieve maximum quality.

For 3/4" thick King StarBoard, we typically make two cuts with a 3/8" bit to go all the way through. If quality of appearance is not important, deeper cuts can be made. Depending on the quality of the first pass, which varies with the speeds and bits you decide to use, you may or may not find it necessary to make a finishing pass. If you find that a finishing pass helps, we recommend leaving 15,000 of an inch of material on the roughing pass. When profiling, it's best to use a bit with a rounded bottom. This helps reduce well marks in the material.

Chip relief is also important. Wide profile bits may need to run at RPMs as low as 8,000 and inches per minute of 100 or less. Combination of sloping and arching lead ins is the best way to remove entry tool marks. Lead ins should be sufficiently long relative to the depth of cut. This reduces pressure on the spindle, bit and material itself. Usually no lead out is the best option for the minimized upward pull on the cut part as the bit exits.

When drilling with a CNC machine, you may have to experiment to come up with the right speed for your machine. Using our software's pecking function, we drill at 4,000 RPMs, 75 inches per minute down feed and 0.125" deep per peck. This method works for both drill and in-mill bits. Pecking motion in slow speeds allow for larger bits to be removed in each peck and keeps chips from jamming the bit or the hole.

If you're servicing a sheet or machine large pockets there are several precautions you should take to reduce the chance of relieving stress in one area and bowing your sheet. To start, always begin at the inside of the sheet. This helps reduce the chance that the ends will bow up and cause you to lose vacuum suction.

Ideally, you should surface the sheet on both sides to reduce the risk of the sheet bowing. Always surface and pocket before you cut pieces out when the maximum vacuum is available. Another technique that helps with bowing is to tape the edge of the sheet all the way around into the table. This will help prevent suction escaping from the edges. Jigs and clamps may be used when extreme applications where bowing may result. With an experienced CNC operators, and these tips from King Plastic Corporation, you can easily fabricate King StarBoard sheets into nearly any application you can imagine.

Please contact your hardware's distributor or King Plastic Corporation today to learn more.