New darkroom

[Bill Kumpf]

Kurt,

What materials did you select for the sink and its coating?

[k_redder]

Kurt,

What materials did you select for the sink and its coating?

Bill,
The sink is made with 3/4" birch/maple plywood. I plan to coat it with West Systems (105/206) epoxy.

[Ed Pierce]

Ed,
Congratulations! That room looks great. I especially like the enlarger station. Did you build that? It looks very nice. Well done.

Yep all by myself - thank you

[Steve Kefford]

...I plan to coat it with West Systems (105/206) epoxy.

Why have you chosen 206? As I understand it, 205 hardner is the norm, an d206 gives longer cure times.

How many coats are you going to give? Are you going to wait for full cure (and hence sanding) between coats?

Just curious, as I will shortly be doing the same.

Steve

[Steve Kefford]

... I use 1/4 turn taps designed for appliance connections, and the do come with threaded ends and hose adapters.

Do you mean what is commonly called in the UK as Washing Machine Valves as per the picture?

Steve

[Steve Kefford]

....I'm 6'3 and made the bottom of the sink at 36". A good rule of thumb for any workbench/table height is to stand comfortably with arm relaxed and measure to the bottom of your palm held parallel to the ground.

I am also 6'3" and considering the height of my soon to be constructed sink. What depth do you have at the front of the sink?

Steve

[k_redder]

Why have you chosen 206? As I understand it, 205 hardner is the norm, an d206 gives longer cure times.

How many coats are you going to give? Are you going to wait for full cure (and hence sanding) between coats?

Just curious, as I will shortly be doing the same.

Steve

Steve,
I am leaning towards the 206 Hardener mostly because I feel a little more comfortable having the extra working time, especially during the step where I will use a thickened mixture to get fillets into all of the inside corners. I just don't want to feel that I need to rush to get the stuff on. I'm planning on doing a minimum of 2 coats (full cure/sand between), but will do more if it seems like it needs it. I'm guessing that the 1 qt size (1.22 qt mixed) isn't going to do the job so i'm looking at having to buy the 1 gallon size. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has used the West Sytems epoxy, just how much epoxy is required based on the size of their sink and how many coats they applied. I'd hate to buy the gallon size (kind of expensive) if it isn't really necessary. Just as another data point for your sink height question, I'm 6 foot even and I also made my sink with a height of 36" (bottom of sink, mid slope) and it seems comfortable to me.

[Steve Kefford]

.... I'm planning on doing a minimum of 2 coats (full cure/sand between), but will do more if it seems like it needs it. ....

Reading the West documentation, if you are doing a full cure/sand, you should use at least 3 coats. An alternative is to not wait for a full cure before applying the second coat. In this situation subsequent coats are applied without sanding, and only two coats are required, plus its finished quicker. I am not sure what effect the choice of 205 or 206 hardner will have on this second option.

Steve

[k_redder]

Well, it's finally finished (I know it's never REALLY finished), but at least I can move stuff in and start setting things up. It's almost embarrassing that it took this long to finish, but things are what they are and that's just how long it took. I'm just glad it's done and now when I go upstairs to work, it'll be to make prints, not work on the drywall.

[Mark O'Neill 107.87]

It looks pretty schmick! Well done, but have you told your wife yet????