Darkroom sink - anyone build theirs?

Polyurethane will waterlog

Michael Slade said:

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?

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Rino liner is a spray on polyurethane product. Unfortunately polyurethane is porous and over time the chemicals and water in your sink will absorb into it. I don't know of any sucessful 100% polyurethane finishes that work well on darkroom sinks.

When I designed my sink, I was fortunate to have some spare money so I decided to get it custom made for me in PVC. For 1.8mx0.75m sink that included a backsplash and faucet holes, I think it cost me a little over US$800 to have built.

regards
Peter

darkroom sink

I just built a monster sink out of 3/4 plywood, caught a sale on birch but sanded plywood would do as well. Talked to an expert at NC state who said use polyester resin with fiberglas cloth for corners and seams. Put two coats on-very nasty stuff-need super ventilation and respirator then finished with two coats of epoxy. Looks like a battle ship but too early to tell about leaks. I have a deep end for tanks, 36x36 x30, which I can fill to the top and no leaks. It will take 36 inch traysl, the whole thing is 11 1/2 feet long.

I built the one in my darkroom out of plywood and fiberglass mat. This is the non-woven material used in forms and boats. The great thing was the ability to make to the exact size I wanted, with a double bowl stainless sink in the end.

Would I do it again? Absolutely not!!! It was obvious that I had lost my mind halfway through the layup process. When all costs were tallied the discovery was made that I could have acquired an ABS sink top and built the bottom frame out of 2x4 much cheaper. Unless one wants the satisfaction of "doing it yourself" or must make to a custom size consider a premade item instead of doing a full fiberglass project. The sink travails are detailed at:

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Michael, I've been following this thread. Have you made any decision yet? Once I finish re-doing the downstairs bath for my beloved I'm thinking of my own sink project.
-Bob

Michael Slade said:

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!

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Michael,

Actually, I'm American! But Scots-Irish genetically. Calendar looks great -- nice going! )

I too processed on kitchen counter tops for years. Last year I finally built a permanent darkroom. I made my sink 10 ft x 30 in. 3/4 plywood bottom, 2x6 sides. Heavy as a sheet of plywood and 25 feet of 2x6. Covered in exopy resin (didn't feel the fiberglass would add anything. It sits on a 2x4 stand.

A note. Sealed plywood to frame with type III wood glue (exterior). Insert 1/2 inch fillets in all box edges for rounded corners. Instead of buying 10 foot plywood spliced bottom, used a generous overlap piece of plywood to ensure no leaking.

Result. Very satisfied. No leaking problems. Although I used white pigment to color sink white in the expoxy paint, the pigment seems to stain (acid to magenta, alkali to purple) somewhat like litmus paper. The 2x6 edges are very nice to lean on!

I can use trays up to 20x24 with no problems.