Darkroom sink ideas

If you are going to consider making your own, the people who use plywood and fibreglass to make small boats know how to do these things.

Both, coated wood or plain fibreglass make sense when rounded edges/corners are wanted.
Fibreglass also may make sense over PVC sheets when a very light custommade sink is wanted, but I am not really shure on this.

I had made 20ish year ago, a PVC sink which I expected to be plastic welded. Turned out their idea of that was to glue it then run a bead of silicone around the joins. While not what I thought I'd ordered, it has lasted and only recently the glue/silicone has decided to let go on the front edge so I'm going to have to repair it one day... which brings me to my point... my sink has a 100mm (4") side, but I don't think I need anywhere near that, it's just something you reach over / lean on (not advisable as it's pretty wobbly now it's not glued together). I'm contemplating making the front edge minimal. I've never spilt anything more than a few drops transferring a print from tray to tray and I have well & drain at the end. By making the front edge a 1cm or so 'bead' , it will be enough to contain a spilt tray enough that I can mop the spill into the well/drain but also make it much easier to handle a 20x24 tray I use (for single tray processing... pour dev in/out, stop (water) in/out and fixer in/out). With 4-5 litres (so 4-5kg) of liquid in the tray, it can be a bit dodgy (it's plastic so not rigid) lifting it to pour. This discussion about sinks has me thinking out aloud

FWIW I use a three-bowl commercial steel kitchen sink salvaged from a closed restaurant, with the faucets and drains intact. I covered the bowls with a salvaged 5-foot wire shelf to rest trays on -- it's long enough to cover the bowls, but leaves the prep areas at either end bare. It's an improvisation, but I ended up with an 8-9 foot long wet-side work station, with plenty of drainage, for about $200. If you browse craigslist or facebook marketplace with an open mind, you can probably make something better for even less.

Portable ice tables work well. Drain to a bucket or outside with pvc.

If you really want a cheap sink, why not make it out of cardboard and line it with a bin liner.

There is something called a seedling flood tray. Works for some.

My darkroom is equipped with a retired morgue table. I had to strip all the plumbing and repipe it to serve as a darkroom sink. Itll hold four 16x20 trays no problem.

glbeas said:

My darkroom is equipped with a retired morgue table. I had to strip all the plumbing and repipe it to serve as a darkroom sink. Itll hold four 16x20 trays no problem.

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Brilliant!

It looks like you're close to Seattle.
Second Use and Earthwise both sell used Contruction and architectural stuff. They usually have a good pile of stainless sinks. I wonder if a shower pan repurposed as sink could work? You'd have to make a stand for it. They're most commonly square-ish though. You could build a simple overgrown plywood "tray" (decide how high you would like the sides), and then have it coated with truck bedliner.
LineX, Rhinoliner, etc. You would need to see which coating is the least chemically reactive.
There was a darkroom sink on Seattle craigslist listed out of Pt Townsend off and on for a couple of years.

We also have Bargreen Ellingso and Dick's restaurant supply. I know both of them sometimes have scratch and dent and returned goods.

Oh, habitat for humanity retail stores too.

or ice fishing sleds. HEAVY duty, and come in large sizes. Easy to put a hole in with drill.


The consumer made stuff, well.... expensive

I just finished mine, made out of form ply and painted with pond paint for water proofing. My old sink was made the same way, just needs recoating once a year. This sink is much bigger.

Before retirement my work used to take me around offices and factories of all types. In workshops and laboratories I often saw wooden, lead lined sinks. Beautifully folded sheet lead with soldered lead joints.
I once saw a documentary where the sheets of lead were welded with a gas torch, no flux or solder. Quite a hairy process to the untrained.
Are there any down sides to using lead sinks?

BobUK said:

Before retirement my work used to take me around offices and factories of all types. In workshops and laboratories I often saw wooden, lead lined sinks. Beautifully folded sheet lead with soldered lead joints.
I once saw a documentary where the sheets of lead were welded with a gas torch, no flux or solder. Quite a hairy process to the untrained.
Are there any down sides to using lead sinks?

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Actually lead is very easy to work with and weld.....it's just not good for you especially if you are young. Also sheet lead is very expensive these days. Also it can corrode with certain chemicals.