Darkroom sink - anyone build theirs?

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 22, 2005

I had a sweet Kreonite 6-foot sink in the last darkroom I built...alas I sold the sink with the house and do not have it anymore.

I am getting ready to finish my basement and have plenty of room to make whatever I need to down there, and am thinking about building the sink I need vs. trying to find one and having it cost a fortune.

I liked the Kreonite, but it was a little too small to hold 4 trays of 20x24.

Does anyone have any plans or resources for building a wooden sink and covering it with fiberglass (glassfibre)?

Any other suggestions for surplus sinks are also welcome.

Thanks!

Dave Parker · Oct 22, 2005

Michael,

You might want to do a search on darkroom sinks, this has been discussed at length on the forums in the past.

Dave

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 22, 2005

Will do.

I have chastized other for not doing a search, it's about time I ate some humble pie.

EDIT: One thing that I haven't found mentioned is the Stainless Steel vs. anything else issue. The issue being the non-silver processes I'm doing. I know at least one (Kallitype) is sensitive to any type of metal contamination.

I think I'll re-post the thread in the non-silver forum and see what comes up.

Thanks.

Valerie · Oct 22, 2005

homemade sink

My dad built a wood sink for me out of scraps of wood (mostly 2x4's and 2x6's) It is VERY heavy! It is more than 8 feet long. Used many, many layers of fiberglass. It is holding up just great and was quite inexpensive--well, except for the fiberglass. I may have a picture if interested....

Wally H · Oct 22, 2005

I built two sinks for my darkroom that can hold up to 20x24 trays. I built the stands from primarily cedar and varnished it. The sink itself was plywood covered in a black plastic that is resistant to chemicals. I cut the plastic sheets into pieces to line the plywood frame and sealed them with a glue the plastics warehouse sold to me. I purchased black plastic molding to trim and seal the top edge of the sink and plumbed them both with a drain. I've had the sinks for about 6 years and they are holding up just fine so far. If you are interested in more detail, PM me and I can send some images and such.

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 22, 2005

Wally,

Do you think it would have been easier to just have it Rhinolined once you had built he frame, or does the plastic that is glued work well enough?

jmdavis · Oct 22, 2005

Check out the Darkroom Source web site. He has some good ideas. There are also plans in "Building Your Own Home Darkroom." The book is likely available at most Borders and/or Barnes and Nobles. It is also available from Amazon.

Mike Davis

Wally H · Oct 22, 2005

Michael Slade said:
Wally,

Do you think it would have been easier to just have it Rhinolined once you had built he frame, or does the plastic that is glued work well enough?

Hi Michael,

I don't know much about the Rhinoline product. I think it is applied by a shop (like an auto shop) so in that case it would be easier because you don't have to do it. My first thought is that it seems like a good idea. The only thing I can think of that might be a consideration is the surface texture. I'm thinking that the Rhinolining is a rough surface but I don't know for sure. If it is rough it might be harder to clean, but if someone like PF's Bud used it I'd consider that a good omen.

resummerfield · Oct 22, 2005

For those who haven't already done so, check-out the thread/sticky "darkroom portraits". It's amazing what some have done!

Concerning the "rhino", I think the texture is a little rough. But then, the home made fiberglass sinks are seldom "glass smooth" either.

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 22, 2005

The sweet thing about Rhinolining is that it doesn't 'have' to be rough. They put on the texture after they have done the coating. It can be very smooth...not 'glass' smooth, but smooth enough for a sink. Nice thing too, is that the trays don't slide around much when you're bouncing down a rough road.

Wayne · Oct 22, 2005

I built my large sink out of plywood, screws, and swimming pool paint. Probably cost me $40 and took a few hours.

jmdavis · Oct 22, 2005

Michael Slade said:
The sweet thing about Rhinolining is that it doesn't 'have' to be rough. They put on the texture after they have done the coating. It can be very smooth...not 'glass' smooth, but smooth enough for a sink. Nice thing too, is that the trays don't slide around much when you're bouncing down a rough road.

Michael,

Isn't the tray bouncing thing directly proportional to the speed of a custom Land Rover.

Mike Davis.

PS: Those are some impressive rigs. Brett Weston would be very jealous.

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 22, 2005

jmdavis said:
Michael,

Isn't the tray bouncing thing directly proportional to the speed of a custom Land Rover.

Mike Davis.

PS: Those are some impressive rigs. Brett Weston would be very jealous.

Yeah, that's about the only thing that makes driving down a washboard road worth it. Not having to agitate prints and rock the tray is a fringe benefit.

Thanks for the compliments. I'd have loved to have Brett come and see them.

MattKing · Oct 22, 2005

For what its worth, I worked for years with just a counter-top for my print trays. If you don't need water baths for temperature control, just a flat counter-top will do, although a small lip around the counter-top will be helpful to help control minor spills, and a kitchen or wash basin sink at the end will serve for wash up. Counter-tops can be had very cheaply, and dont require plumbing.

Charles Webb · Oct 23, 2005

I have used several different sinks over the years, stainless steel, fiberglas, and marine boat epoxy paint. I can honestly say I have no preference for black and white. For color, and using temp controlls I like the fiberglass and marine epoxy as it holds the temperatures for a longer period of time. Once warmed it will stay warm for quite a spell. Stainless is wonderful for keeping spotless clean, but in my opinion offers very little advantage other than bragging rights. All that you want is for it not to leak, and the boat epoxy's
are wonderful. Drain devices attach to any of them with little or no trouble.
My next darkroom will be of 1/2 inch hard board (what we used to call masonite ) bottom and sealed with epoxy marine paint. The fiberglass and marine paint will have to have some ventilation fans if built in place. My recomendation is build it and seal it out of doors then install it in you DR.
Charlie........

wildbill · Oct 23, 2005

3/4 birch plywood and white 4x8 pvc sheeting applied with vinyl floor adhesive. all available at lowes. the sheeting is about $18/sheet and one does a 24"x8' sink. Seal the joints with good silicone caulk and your done. I've had mine for about a year and it resists stains pretty well. I glued it to the plywood before i made my cuts and it worked out very well.

inthedark · Oct 23, 2005

My sinks are made of polycarbon, mine were "welded" together by a friend with the appropriate set up, but aquarium caulk works great and will hold aquariums together and it is the only caulk that has held up to the chems to date. I don't know what's different about it? BUT it works great. Furthermore for quick clean up and just because I'm anal, I bought a roll of 4 mil plastic sheeting and lay it before I set trays in or fill with chems. . .this also makes clean up quite pleasant.

Curt · Oct 23, 2005

I have a twist on the darkroom sink question. When I was at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena California up on a hill overlooking the Rose Bowl and of a monolithic design in black as no other building you will ever see. You follow a winding road to the Frank L. Wright, 2001 a Space Odd., campus of the most expensive and upper class school in the World. Drive into the car lot full of automobiles each costing more than a year at Harvard and you will find you way into the building and seek the Photography department. For darkroom sinks they had NONE. Instead they had large square tabletop structures where students would put their trays on and develop prints. This is of course after the film was approved for development and the negative was approved for printing.
When I went there I had a BS in Photography and Graphic Design, 1/3 of the new students had undergraduate degrees already. It was soooo expensive and soooo Marine like... That's why I was in the Navy in Vietnam. I left and went to Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara California. There they had some nice sinks that were like the one that I used for my previous degree.
Moral of the story: the more you spend the less you can get. Some people don't even recommend or use a sink; some do.
I like a sink, stainless steel is easy to clean and looks really nice but is cold on the edges. I think the best sink is a lab grade hard rubber coated type material and a stainless steel insert or liner. It cost me a small fortune to provide this advice so enjoy.

Bruce Appel · Oct 23, 2005

I made my sink out of 3/4 inch plywood, using a biscuit joiner and screws for the joints, 2X4 stock for the frame. To water proof I used Titebond 2 water proof glue. I diluted it until it was very thin, applied it with a roller. Used multiple coats. The inside joints I smoothed by making a paste of fine sawdust and glue, and then made smooth contours in the joints with this. A coat of white paint, then a final coat of polyurethane.
This same technique can be used to make boats, and I think my sink would be pond worthy. The advantage of the Tightbond 2 glue over epoxy resin is cost, and no obnoxious fumes.

mmcclellan · Oct 23, 2005

Michael,

Since my job requires frequent moves, I have built a number of sinks in several different countries over the past 20 years. The system I use is very simple, works great, is cheap, easy to do, and I have NEVER had a problem with leaks.

As long as you are not building a sink actually to hold water, but merely provide a "wet area" with good draining and lots of space, I build the sink entirely out of wood. Heavy plywood bottom, 8" or 10" high planks on the sides and ends, and all of it glued/screwed together. The outside is then painted with a coat of EXTERIOR GRADE LATEX HOUSE PAINT (white is the color of choice to improve visibility), and the inside is painted with the same paint, but about four or five coats. Just keep piling on the paint until you have a very heavy coat all over the inside that completely seals all the edges, around the drain, etc.

I have used such sinks for years and never ever had a water problem with them. The total cost of building a sink that is 30" wide, 8-10" deep, and 8' long was under $150 with good quality wood, top rated house paint, and me doing all the work.

You can mess with fibergrlass and all that other stuff if you want, but if house paint keeps the rain out of your living room, it will keep the water inside the sink as long as you're not using the sink as a small lake!

Dave Wooten · Oct 23, 2005

My next darkroom will be of 1/2 inch hard board (what we used to call masonite ) bottom and sealed with epoxy marine paint. The fiberglass and marine paint will have to have some ventilation fans if built in place. My recomendation is build it and seal it out of doors then install it in you DR.
Charlie........[/QUOTE]

Charlie,

Is there a reason for the choice of masonite (cost or weight) over say a marine ply bottom and paint?

thanks
Dave

photobackpacker · Oct 23, 2005

18 years ago, I built mine out of exterior plywood over which I applied fiberglass tape to all of the seams and 3 coats of black fiberglass resin. It recently cracked along the seam where the sink drops into the deep well I designed into it for clean-up. I didn't notice right away until some of the fiberglass flaked off.

With the exterior plywood, this will be an easy repair. With masonite, I suspect I would be building a new sink....

If I were to build another, I might consider using 1/2" exterior plywood. If properly supported from below, I think the 3/4" is unnecessary.

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 23, 2005

mmcclellan said:
You can mess with fibergrlass and all that other stuff if you want, but if house paint keeps the rain out of your living room, it will keep the water inside the sink as long as you're not using the sink as a small lake!

For that piece of advice, you have just won a complimentary copy of my 2006 Ireland calendar! Hehe.

You can see samples of it here:

http://tawayama.com/ireland/2006calendar/

Since you're Irish I thought you'd appreciate it.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone!

raucousimages · Oct 23, 2005

I have built several sinks out of wood/fiberglass that have worked great. The sink I have now is the best sinl I have ever owned. It is lab grade stainless steel custom made to fit my darkroom (6"X32"X104"). It is also the most expensive way to go. If I do it again I will build a wood frame and tile it just like a shower pan.

sctransplant · Oct 23, 2005

darkroom sink

when i moved here 9 years ago ihad given my old sink to a friend for his darkroom. building my new dk rm i needed a big sink. price was a object. some how i went to a used restaurant supply for something else and there were a dozen used sinks....all stainless....they were priced around 100 dollars but acomment by the salesman sen me to the scrap yard and there i found stainless eight foot sink with a three foot ell. 6 inch sides and 18 inch backsplash...plus the stand and faucets for the scrap price...25 bucks. look away from the photo area. frank

Darkroom sink - anyone build theirs?

Kimberly Anderson

Dave Parker

Kimberly Anderson

Valerie

Wally H

Kimberly Anderson

jmdavis

Wally H

resummerfield

Kimberly Anderson

Wayne

jmdavis

Kimberly Anderson

MattKing

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Charles Webb

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inthedark

Curt

Bruce Appel

mmcclellan

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Kimberly Anderson

raucousimages

sctransplant

Darkroom sink - anyone build theirs?

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