Best SS Sink?

[jose angel]

Bob`s point is important, notice that there are different steel qualities. For photographic use, you`d want what people around here call "marine" grade SS (316). Cheaper, ordinary "kitchen"grade steels (e.g. 304, 18/8 and so) show corrosion spots somewhat easily (photographic use), so you`ll need to keep control of them. Although you can live with a "kitchen type" one, it`s definitely better to have it with a "true stainless" material.

BTW, I also had mine custom built. Expensive, but worth every penny. If you opt for this route, think on a reasonable size. Do it as big as you need, but maybe not as big as you could... otherwise, you may find that you want it on another place and it could not fit. And, I personally prefer to have two sinks instead of an enormous one (one big for trays and general stuff, other smaller and deeper for washing and film developing stuff).

[Bruce Barlow]

I had a California Stainless. It was gorgeous, well-built and wonderful.

Except I grew to dislike it. The metal sucks heat out of trays like there's no tomorrow. I bought 2'x4' plastic ceiling light louvres and put them on the bottom of the sink to get the trays up off the metal, which worked well.

In my new darkroom, I built my sink from plywood and 2-by's. Custom sized to my needs, painted with epoxy paint. It will out live me. I think it might have taken a morning to make the sink, and several days to paint four coats of epoxy on it. It doesn't suck heat like the metal. Not as elegant, but neither am I in my old age.

[Bob Salomon]

I had a California Stainless. It was gorgeous, well-built and wonderful.

Except I grew to dislike it. The metal sucks heat out of trays like there's no tomorrow. I bought 2'x4' plastic ceiling light louvres and put them on the bottom of the sink to get the trays up off the metal, which worked well.

In my new darkroom, I built my sink from plywood and 2-by's. Custom sized to my needs, painted with epoxy paint. It will out live me. I think it might have taken a morning to make the sink, and several days to paint four coats of epoxy on it. It doesn't suck heat like the metal. Not as elegant, but neither am I in my old age.

Were you using metal or plastic trays?

[Bob Salomon]

My ss sink was very loud. Anything being placed in it sounded like a gong. I put a sheet of rigid foam wall insulation underneath and along the sides, and now it it is quiet and better at keeping temperatures steady than before.

When we remodeled our kitchen we bought a ridicusouly expensive stainless steel sink made by Franke in Switzerland. The drain stoppers alone were more then the same size sink at a Home Depot!
But one of the things that made us spend over $600.00 on the sink 12 years ago was how much heavier it was then a standard sink. It turned out that that weight was because it was a heavier grade of steel but also because it has some type of coating on the bottom. It turns out that it is virtually impossible to dent and if you drop something heavy in it it won't wake up everyone in the house.
Very happy with the extra cost and quality, but we would never have known if the sales people didn't point out the reasons for the added weight.

[Daniel Stone]

Definitely go with 316. Food grade is 304/308 in most cases, but for the extra cost if this is a "til you're dead" sink, definintely go with 316.

I'd also see about supplying the metal yourself. Unless the shop that fabricates these can get a better deal on the raw metal than you can, there are many places I've found that will happily charge for 316, but only use 304 or 308. To the eye, they're pretty much indistinguishable, until you start to spot rust on it down the line ... 316 will not rust. 304 will in the presence of certain chemistry, 308 might.

Recommendation: Install wooden "duck boards" on the bottom of your sink, or put down industrial rubber kitchen mats to reduce the "bong!!!!" noises a stainless sink will create if anything is dropped in the bottom of.

Also ask the shop to use 316 welding wire, you can weld 316 with 308L wire, but for the same reasons(rust), use 316L.

An honest shop will of course do this naturally. I'm simply mentioning it because I've run across shops here in LA that have(and will continue to) do that to customers.

-Dan

[Duolab123]

My Arkay SS sink has a spray mastic on the bottom side to insulate a bit and reduce noise. No matter if you get 316 or 304 you have to be careful not to leave any active metal like iron on the sink. It will corrode the sink no matter what it is . Even iron filings, bits of steel trapped under a tank or such will (in the presence of water) pit the SS. I still like my fiberglass Kreonite for day to day use. It has a dump trough, and a feature where you can use the entire 8 foot sink as a inch deep water bath. If you are wanting to maintain temperature, and you have a mixing valve, you just flow water into the sink, it has a built in spillway for the water to drain into the trough. Heck of a waste of money, but back in the day, this was a not so uncommon practice.
Best Mike

[Bruce Barlow]

Were you using metal or plastic trays?

Plastic.

[Christopher Barrett]

When I was in college and had a part time job printing black and white for a local studio, we had a huge stainless sink. I mostly developed in stainless trays. What we did there was support the trays on short risers and fill the sink with a water bath. Chemistry held temp pretty well throughout the day.

Also, I've just started talking to Leedal. Josie there was super helpful and is going to start by checking their existing "factory sinks" to see if she already has something that would suit me.

-CB

[jon.oman]

Some very good ideas here....

[resummerfield]

...one of the things that made us spend over $600.00 on the sink 12 years ago was how much heavier it was then a standard sink. It turned out that that weight was because it was a heavier grade of steel but also because it has some type of coating on the bottom. It turns out that it is virtually impossible to dent and if you drop something heavy in it it won't wake up everyone in the house.
Very happy with the extra cost and quality, but we would never have known if the sales people didn't point out the reasons for the added weight.

For my third (and last) sink, I had it custom made by Cal Stainless, and I specified a heavier grade of stainless. It adds little to the overall cost, and the sink just feels heavier and seems to be less prone to denting. Also, have all the corners made with a radius, so they are easier to clean.