I’m looking at the possibility of making some products out of high density cork like this cutting board: Modern Furniture Store, Home Decor & Wedding Registry | Crate & Barrel
Does anyone know any good sources for this material? Producers? Info on how to work with it and what the possibilities are? Info on what “grades” there are? Haven’t been able to find much in any web searches.
Any info much appreciated. Thanks.
I’m also curious if anyone knows if the material would hold up to steam and moisture. If it were used like a colander in a kitchen…
omg, omg omg.
Trying soaking some cork and see how that works out for you!? ( hulu ) 
sorry couldn’t resist 
Seriously though, I don’t think that cork is durable enough to be used as a colander- it tears so easily. The compressed board will be hard. I’d do some testing with cork (steam it, soak it, etc) see how it holds up. I’m going to guess that it’ll need some kind of anti-fungal treatment. May I ask why? aesthetics? You might be able to bond the cork to a flexible substrate and “mold” it.
As an alternative, I’d look at using bamboo as rice is commonly steamed / strained in bamboo baskets.
I’m looking at a family of products, one of which would be subjected to moisture and heat similar to a colander, but if it’s not suitable then that part will be made differently.
More importantly, I’m looking for sources and info on working with cork…for the components that will not be subjected to moisture.
Do the high density compressed boards really tear that easily? Or just when subjected to a lot of moisture?
You are not aware of the ThomasNet, formerly known as the Thomas Register? An invaluable tool for finding materials, and thence to finding answers to specific questions from the people that manufacture them.
http://www.thomasnet.com/nsearch.html?cov=NA&which=prod&what=cork&navsec=search&heading=19923200
My first google result of a search for “cork suppliers” was: http://www.multicorksolutions.com/
there were 1,460,000 others… . . cork suppliers - Google Search
Thanks for that info. I noticed there was a ton of sources. Many seem to make either sheets for gaskets or industrial use or wine corks, or flooring…a bit hard to tell who might have that special ability to advise on how to make things out of the ordinary. I guess part of my question is if anyone knows of or has worked with a supplier(s) that is good at working outside the box a bit. Just trying take some of the chance out of wading through Thomasnet hoping to contact the right person. Possibly someone who has worked on cork furniture or similar.
[quote]Just trying take some of the chance out of wading through Thomasnet hoping to contact the right person. Possibly someone who has worked on cork furniture or similar.
Jelinek is an old (150 years) manufacturer (processor may be a better word) of cork; they supplied the cork gaskets in soda, and beer bottle caps forever. But they also have a line of cork furniture. Since they are in the business of promoting and selling cork, they may be able to offer technical advice about their product.
Daniel Michalik is a designer/manufacturer of cork furniture and interior objects in NYC. His work might inspire some out of the box processes.
Free Patents Online is a website that provides tons of information, but you have to dig for the information you want. But it is free. Cork materials and processes are available for reading; here’s one on molding cork: Pre-heat process for molding cork blocks (you will have to register to read it).
Patent Storm is another.
But you may already be beyond reading, it’s probably time to lay your hands on some cork material(s) and start experimenting. Jelinek offers cork fabrics; maybe they can be laminated into compound forms. Granulated cork might be able to be combined with a suitable low temperature resin and compression molded.
There is a permanent URL for the ThomasNet Cork page that was mentioned:
The dynamic version of this URL is outdated, and in order to avoid broken and incorrect links, we try to advise people of the permanent URLs.
Thanks so much for your time.
Regards,
ThomasNet Staff
Hey ThomasNet! Thanks for joining the site! I use your resources at least twice a week… the best resource.