Darkroom sink ideas

amellice · Nov 3, 2022

Hello everyone, I'm in the process of establishing a new darkroom in my garage after moving to a new place. I'm looking for sink ideas. I'm very poor with DIY stuff and not the handyman my wife always wants me to be. I'm willing to buy one but the only one available seems to be the plastic ones from Delta which has not very good reviews. The main feature I'm looking for is to have a sink that is large enough to accommodate my 16x20 washer along with one 20x24 tray. I'd also love some recommendation on water temp control and regulator. A nice to have is a 6 to 7 foot sink that can have multiple 20x24 trays in it (but I'm not super fixated on that as I can have the trays on a table). Another nice to have is sink side table so I can have my Jobo processor on it so draining should be easy (again, not fixated on that as well) as I can have a side table with the same height and the Jobo on top of it.

I checked out sebastiandarkroomprod.com and talked with them, price is rather steep and I'd prefer a cheaper option. I looked up hardware stores for farmer sinks without luck and checked commercial sinks online without luck.

What would you suggest?

Thanks

MattKing · Nov 3, 2022

Is your washer a vertical washer? If so, an over-sized laundry sink may be a good option for it.
If there are commercial auctioneers around you, sometimes used restaurant prep equipment can be repurposed.

Neal · Nov 3, 2022

Old stainless steel sinks can still be had on Craigslist.org. I realize you don't consider yourself handy but a shower base might work.

Good luck!

btaylor · Nov 3, 2022

If you have a handy person around, perhaps you can have them build it for you? I had our maintenance guy build my sink, about 30” x 10 ft. Plywood and 2x4’s. He lined it with the thick plastic waterproofing membrane used in shower installations. It was inexpensive and fast to build. A standard shower drain is at one end. I have heard that you can get shower controls that will regulate temperature pretty well, I kept my eyes on eBay and picked up darkroom water temp set ups for $50-100.

jeffreyg · Nov 3, 2022

Which ever way you go I suggest that you make ( if 6ft then three 2ft ) removable covers to fit over the sink when it is not used as a sink. That will give you 6ft more of counter top space for other darkroom activities. Half inch plywood will work. Paint it with polyester resin which is easy to clean and won't absorb any thing that might drip on it. By making individual sections you can still have access to the sink if what you are doing needs both sink and counter top.

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AgX · Nov 3, 2022

amellice said:
I'm very poor with DIY stuff and not the handyman my wife always wants me to be.

To my mind this, and if you want something sturdy and lasting tight, excludes the DIY approach.

I myself contemplated long time over homemade sinks. But still use readymade things. And anything selfmade I considered I would not advise to you.

(My favourite solution is a welded PVC sink, second is a construction out of plywood, 2C-epoxy coated.)

You hinted at a dedicated manufacturer of PVC sinks.
You may look around at your region. There might be a workshop making PVC sheeting constructions for the industry. They might be an alternative.
Some of the manufacturers of lab sinks do them elaborated with rounded edges or with shelves. You may consider going for plain sheets, saving costs.

ags2mikon · Nov 3, 2022

Over 35 years ago I bought a used stainless steel salad bar pan that was 32" by 110" from a restaurant supply house for under 100 dollars. I made a stand for it and it has been in 3 darkrooms now and I am still using it. It is made out of 304 stainless so not the best grade but it has worked fine. In my rv darkroom I am using one of those 4 foot black plastic ones from Adorama. I mounted it in a waterproof 6 foot counter. It is for developing film and small prints.

BobUK · Nov 3, 2022

When I had grand ideas about installing running water into my box room/darkroom I looked at a few catering kitchen suppliers of stainless sinks and troughs. At the time they were a lot cheaper than large sinks with a darkroom label on them.

Paul Howell · Nov 3, 2022

ags2mikon said:
Over 35 years ago I bought a used stainless steel salad bar pan that was 32" by 110" from a restaurant supply house for under 100 dollars. I made a stand for it and it has been in 3 darkrooms now and I am still using it. It is made out of 304 stainless so not the best grade but it has worked fine. In my rv darkroom I am using one of those 4 foot black plastic ones from Adorama. I mounted it in a waterproof 6 foot counter. It is for developing film and small prints.

I did the same when I had a full size darkroom, my sink was salvaged from a meat packing plant, it came with a set of legs, don't recall it's exact dimensions, large enough for 4 16X20 trays and 11X14 archival washer along with a set of tall dip and dunk developing tanks made from black plastic drain pipe, type used for toxic chemistry in an industrial setting. I paid for a plumber to install the water supply and drains.

cliveh · Nov 3, 2022

I used these people, who can make the plastic sink to your own spec and then just make a wooden frame to drop it in.

Google Search

snusmumriken · Nov 3, 2022

It might be worth checking out aquaculture tanks. They are made in large quantities, so might conceivably be cheaper than a purpose-made darkroom sink. As others have said, there are also real bargains to be found in second-hand catering/restaurant sinks. Just beware that the quality of the stainless steel may explain the low price - I say that from experience.

Todd Barlow · Nov 4, 2022

Possible option found on the U-Line USA and Canadian Sites (Prices shown here are from the Canadian site.)

Renato Tonelli · Nov 4, 2022

Money well-spent, in my opinion:

I bought a sink for my University’s Darkroom from this company in ca.1991. Still in everyday use, no issues:

Darkroom

Darkroom and Studio set up and supplies

deltaphotosupplies.com

Bought a custom-made 9ft sink, deep enough for 20x24 trays for my personal Darkroom in late 2018 (2019?). Excellent investment;

Edwards Engineered Products, uv light sources, vacuum frames, tray rockers, paper dryers, coating rods, darkroom ventilation, vent hoods, darkroom vent hoods, darkroom sinks

pbromaghin · Nov 4, 2022

I believe there's a Tractor Supply within 20 miles of Dublin that has these sheep tanks. They're about 2ft X 4ft and 1ft deep at $120-$180:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/sheep%20tank?

amellice · Nov 5, 2022

MattKing said:
Is your washer a vertical washer? If so, an over-sized laundry sink may be a good option for it.
If there are commercial auctioneers around you, sometimes used restaurant prep equipment can be repurposed.

Yes it's vertical washer. I tried to look for restaurant sinks, I can find one that acomodate a single 20x24 tray along with the washer, once I start going up in length, they get divided into compartments which I'm not interested in.

amellice · Nov 5, 2022

Neal said:
Old stainless steel sinks can still be had on Craigslist.org. I realize you don't consider yourself handy but a shower base might work.

Good luck!

Yes I've my eyes watching local listings on different websites.

amellice · Nov 5, 2022

btaylor said:
If you have a handy person around, perhaps you can have them build it for you? I had our maintenance guy build my sink, about 30” x 10 ft. Plywood and 2x4’s. He lined it with the thick plastic waterproofing membrane used in shower installations. It was inexpensive and fast to build. A standard shower drain is at one end. I have heard that you can get shower controls that will regulate temperature pretty well, I kept my eyes on eBay and picked up darkroom water temp set ups for $50-100.

This is an interesting idea, I'll reachout to my contractor and see if he knows someone who can build me a sink. Thank you

amellice · Nov 5, 2022

AgX said:
To my mind this, and if you want something sturdy and lasting tight, excludes the DIY approach.

I myself contemplated long time over homemade sinks. But still use readymade things. And anything selfmade I considered I would not advise to you.

(My favourite solution is a welded PVC sink, second is a construction out of plywood, 2C-epoxy coated.)

You hinted at a dedicated manufacturer of PVC sinks.
You may look around at your region. There might be a workshop making PVC sheeting constructions for the industry. They might be an alternative.
Some of the manufacturers of lab sinks do them elaborated with rounded edges or with shelves. You may consider going for plain sheets, saving costs.

Thank you for the suggestion, I found a plumbing supplier around me and will check it out on Monday.

snusmumriken · Nov 5, 2022

A question out of curiosity. Do you really need a darkroom sink? I don't have one, I simply re-used the small sink and draining board from our kitchen when we updated. My print washer stands on the wet-side bench (which is a kitchen work-surface), as do all my processing trays. I don't make much mess, and a few drops are easily mopped up as I go. I don't claim this is perfect, but it's a lot cheaper than buying a sink.

amellice · Nov 5, 2022

cliveh said:
I used these people, who can make the plastic sink to your own spec and then just make a wooden frame to drop it in.

Google Search

I looked into them but was worried that they are UK based and shipping to US would be expensive.

amellice · Nov 5, 2022

snusmumriken said:
A question out of curiosity. Do you really need a darkroom sink? I don't have one, I simply re-used the small sink and draining board from our kitchen when we updated. My print washer stands on the wet-side bench (which is a kitchen work-surface), as do all my processing trays. I don't make much mess, and a few drops are easily mopped up as I go. I don't claim this is perfect, but it's a lot cheaper than buying a sink.

I used to do this in a place I used to live in, the problem though is that I can't setup my enlargers in the kitchen cause it's open space kitchen, light tightening it would be super hard cause it's open onto the living and dining areas with many windows.

amellice · Nov 5, 2022

pbromaghin said:
I believe there's a Tractor Supply within 20 miles of Dublin that has these sheep tanks. They're about 2ft X 4ft and 1ft deep at $120-$180:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/sheep%20tank?

That's an interesting idea, draining would be an issue though?

AgX · Nov 5, 2022

Drill-cut a respective hole at one corner and mount a houshold sink-outlet.

snusmumriken · Nov 5, 2022

amellice said:
I used to do this in a place I used to live in, the problem though is that I can't setup my enlargers in the kitchen cause it's open space kitchen, light tightening it would be super hard cause it's open onto the living and dining areas with many windows.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I mean that when we re-fitted our kitchen, I snaffled the old sink (and cupboards) for my darkroom, which is an outside shed.

pbromaghin · Nov 5, 2022

amellice said:
That's an interesting idea, draining would be an issue though?

What AgX said - that would be done with a hole saw, which is a tube-shaped drill bit with the saw teeth on one end.

There are also wallpaper troughs, but while they're 3-4 ft long, they're only a foot wide.

Darkroom sink ideas

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