PVC sheets

[BetterSense]

There is a nice article about how to make a sink out of PVC, but I'm not sure where to get sheets of PVC. I am thinking of a mini sink like 14x48 inches for my small darkroom so the sheets don't need to be big.

[LabRat]

Has anyone clicked a finger on a mouse to google "flood tables for hydroponics" yet!?!!! They are fantastic, cheap, different sizes, ready made, less than the cost of materials to make one from scratch, and strong...

What are you waiting for!?!!!! (I understand if someone has a custom build requirement, but!?!!!)

Steve K

[vinny]

Home depot. When I made one, I glued the pvc to plywood with linoleum adhesive.
That was really thin stuff. Any major plastics supplier will have it.
Otherwise price out abs which will likely be more expensive.

[Jim C.]

McMaster sells PVC sheets in different sizes.

[vinny]

http://www.eplastics.com/pvc_type1_sheet

[Tin Can]

Yes


Has anyone clicked a finger on a mouse to google "flood tables for hydroponics" yet!?!!! They are fantastic, cheap, different sizes, ready made, less than the cost of materials to make one from scratch, and strong...

What are you waiting for!?!!!! (I understand if someone has a custom build requirement, but!?!!!)

Steve K

[Drew Wiley]

Just look up any actual plastics dealer. There should be several in any significant metropolitan area. More likely found by searching under Plexiglas or ABS sheet, which is actually easier to fabricate, better insulating, and stiffer. You want it at least 1/4 inch thick. Forget the silly home centers. But for something that small
just an acrylic remnant would work. Plastics shops often have bargain scrap bins. But acrylic (plexiglas) has to be edged much more carefully. Vinyl (PVC) will be floppy and tend to melt during cutting if you don't have an ideal blade. Completely straight square cuts are mandatory on any of these materials meant for solvent
welding.

[David Lobato]

Is PVC safe for photographic processes and materials? PVC outgasses chlorine as I understand. Does anyone know how atmospheric chlorine affects the chemical photographic processes we use, or films and papers? Just asking because I don't like the strong smell from PVC in an enclosed space. Would acrylic or ABS be better chemically, though they cost more? My developing tanks from JOBO and Unicolor are styrene or ABS it seems, not PVC which would be a less expensive alternative.

[Drew Wiley]

Yes, vinyls use plasticizers, but sheet goods intended for fabrication are not all loaded up with phalates etc like cheap consumer goods. Styrene and ABS, on the
other hand, often have sulfur impurities or mold release residues. You simply scrub all this kind of stuff off prior to actual darkroom use. No big deal. A lot of vinyl in an enclosed space might smudge an enlarger lens just like a vinyl dashboard does to the inside of your windshield. And as I already mentioned, its floppy and a pain to cut with ordinary gear, so really a poor substitute for ABS. Put it this way, nearly every cheap commercial darkroom sink is made from ABS, not vinyl. Styrene is brittle and fragile, so reserved for really cheap stuff. I use a certain amount of PVC pipe and CPVC in the darkroom without any issues. And no, chlorine is just an issue in the manufacturing process. Of course, if it burns it produces toxic substances, but so does you upholstery stuffing, your carpet mats, your patent leather shoes, etc. Plasticizers are more the enemy of photographic materials. For example, thin PVC is the ingredient of most NON-archival
photo albums, namely, the ones with all the faded prints in them!

[seezee]

Many sign shops use PVC sheets. My friend who is going to build my sink is a former pro photographer turned signmaker & he will be using PVC. There are special adhesives designed for assembling PVC. I suggest you make friends with a signmaker & piggyback on one of their orders. They can help you with the adhesive as well.

[Drew Wiley]

Sign shops generally use the version called Sintra. I used Sintra on certain components of my big portable outdoor drum processor (not the drums themselves).

[seezee]

Yes, Sintra is what we will be using on my darkroom sink.

[scheinfluger_77]

Has anyone clicked a finger on a mouse to google "flood tables for hydroponics" yet!?!!! They are fantastic, cheap, different sizes, ready made, less than the cost of materials to make one from scratch, and strong...

What are you waiting for!?!!!! (I understand if someone has a custom build requirement, but!?!!!)

Steve K

I clicked! Very awesome, thanks for the heads up.

[vinny]

I just picked up a ton of 1/2" x 12' x14" sintra out of the dumpster at my plastics supplier. I could have filled my trailer but not sure what I'm going to do with it.

[Drew Wiley]

Sintra can be heat-bent as well as solvent welded. Just practice on scraps, using a heat gun slowly with a lateral spreader tip back and forth at modest temp,
before trying a serious bending project. It's far more cooperative than most PVC sheet goods, and indeed suitable for things like sinks if thick enough.

[Jim C.]

Sintra ( foamed PVC sheet ) is not very good at shock resistance in less than 1/2" thick, I use it a lot in fabricating props,
while it's easy to use and light weight I would think twice about using as sink.

[Drew Wiley]

Yes, Jim, you'd obviously want to put some wooden struts below it for structural support. But ABS cracks easily too if it's not thick, especially at very low temps.
Plenty of commercially mfg ABS dkrm sinks were way thinner and more fragile than anything I'd choose. With wooden sinks it's the inevitable expansion/contraction stresses over time they cause the failure. And of course, there's the hybrid option: Make your plywood shell or shelf at least, then a thin ABS or Sintra seam-welded liner, which would be dramatically superior to paint in the long haul. Lots of ways to do it. Or just look for a local architectural salvage
yard. Torn out old lab fixtures go for next to nothing.

[Michael Rosenberg]

Better Sense,
I don't know where you are in NC, but I wrote the article and am in Chapel Hill. I got mine at a plastics fabrication place south of Raleigh. Also, Piedmont Plastics, which has several outlets in NC, carries PVC sheets and will cut it to size for you.

My sink is now 16 yrs old and I have never had a leak!

Mike

[BetterSense]

I am in South Durham.

[Don Dudenbostel]

If I were buding a sink I'd build it out of plywood, put strips on the bottom to keep trays up and allow water to drain, put the drain in and take it to a pickup bed liner company that sprays the plastic coating in the beds and have them spray it. Inexpensive and no leaks.

[BetterSense]

I tried that in Dallas and it was surprisingly expensive. I even told them I didn't care about color so they could spray it as part of another job, but they would only bill me the full cost per sq ft which is surprisingly high. I ended up using some Benjamin Moore rubbery waterproof coating which worked well for about 2 years until I moved. I will probably end up doing the same except with some other coating. The sink I need here is much smaller like 12 inches by 4 feet.

[scheinfluger_77]

The one sink I ever built for myself I painted with epoxy paint I probably got from Home Depot. Worked like a charm. I even painted it away from my mini lab and then transported it there. No leaks or anything.

[Ginette]

I tried that in Dallas and it was surprisingly expensive. I even told them I didn't care about color so they could spray it as part of another job, but they would only bill me the full cost per sq ft which is surprisingly high. I ended up using some Benjamin Moore rubbery waterproof coating which worked well for about 2 years until I moved. I will probably end up doing the same except with some other coating. The sink I need here is much smaller like 12 inches by 4 feet.

As the sink size you search for is not too big maybe you will be able to find something in stainless steel from used restaurant equipment.

[Don Dudenbostel]

Looks like you can buy the spray on liner in an aerosol can and do it yourself. It's around $14 a can.


http://www.carid.com/dupli-color/dupli-color-specialty-product-38342736.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiA0Na1BRDlkqOcyczng5cBEiQAnEDa2BSUnp6GIHT9GX5VUH3_jJY4Us3S43_LGOScrOsuzh4aAnMw8P8HAQ

Here's another brand.

http://www.zoro.com/rust-oleum-truck-bed-coating-black-gallon-248916/i/G0418196/?gdffi=047ada998cf641fa93e55ae8579df863&gdfms=0005172D8AD64634BD321647D782DB6D&gclid=Cj0KEQiA0Na1BRDlkqOcyczng5cBEiQAnEDa2NPrzq4HqMLXiIEwMRATZVblrGvLe7-J45mfKcRQw3oaAoxi8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

[LabRat]

Here is a tip a professional darkroom builder gave me for a very chem resistant, durable paint that is very easy to apply, paints on very smooth (with a brush) very low fumes while drying, and cleans up & lasts very well;

http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/restore/restore-outdoor-furniture

It will seal wood (and metals, plastics, etc) well... I have used it for wet side finishing and it's great!!! And inexpensive!!!

I have gotten it in grey, but I don't see it on their color chart now... (Ask them about it...)

Steve K

[Drew Wiley]

You gotta be kidding... Is this the Beverly Hillbillies decide to add a darkroom sink that the goats can drink from?

[Bogdan Karasek]

I was just wondering if anybody has tried using white shellac to to treat the wood. I`m planning a 2ft x 8ft plywood sink. I`ve used it to treat some balcony boards that where starting to rot and the shellac sealed the wood beautifully.

[Ted R]

This place will cut plastic sheet to size, in a choice of sheet thickness, and give a price quote with shipping online, they made my sink backsplash panels exactly right and delivered within about a week

www.professionalplastics.com