Anyone make a wood or concrete sink?

[rjwz28]

I want to make a wood or concrete sink for my bathroom renovation. I'm thinking a vessel type rectangular simple design. Not sure if can make it out of wood with the movement issues, so I probably need to make it out of concrete. Any of you have experience in this?

Thanks,
Rob 

 

[ajones]

Hi

I have not cast a concrete sink, I know you would need to vibrate to avoid any voids,and you would need to cast it in one go to make sure it would be water proof

 

[Tinker]

Just yesterday, I was having an E-mail discussion about this very same subject.

In all of my years as a mason contractor, I never did a concrete sink.  As an apprentice/laborer, I was involved in one. I was the guy doing the mixing.  we made pannels and glued them together some how.  I really don't remember how we got the whole thing to hold together but some kind of mastic must have been involved.  I did help with a couple of counter tops along the way.

When i was asked about how to do a sink (yesterday), I decided to go to the internet to find out how it is done today and what admixtures to use. I have had nothing to do with concrete for around 35 years.  It was the first step to retiring from masonry to drop that necessary evil of the trade.  I still get a trade mag.  In my searrch for info, i did discover great changes since i was involved.

There are a ton (wellll, I guess actually a short ton) of sites showing how to do an actual sing in concrete, in cement (not portland cement, but various plastics , rubberand various other pourable materials.  The more I searched, the more i found I knew nothing about. I have been away from construction for over 30 years (32years) and found so many new ideas not even found in my trade mags.

Google:
Concrete sinks
DIY Concrete sinks
Concrete sink forms
Cement sinks
Cement sink forms
DIY Cement sink forms
Those are where I searched. 

The more i searched, the more possibilities turned up.  There is not much more i can help you with for now.  If others come up with ideas, I might have some comments from experience, but there is just so much new in materials and form work i have little clue about solutions other than prehistoical.  [scratch chin]
Tinker

 

[CarolinaNomad]

Since your in Hawaii, Cheng Concrete should be available.  http://www.concreteexchange.com/

Cheng technique is one of several.  Below is a list of others.  I took a class using Buddy Rhodes mixture.  And did a vessel sink.

http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/sinks_vessels/
http://concretecountertopsolutions.com/videos/
http://countertopsolutions.net/wp/
http://www.buddyrhodes.com/

To form the mold for the concrete, use melamine and spray the melamine with a release agent.  depending on which mixture you use will dictate if you need to caulk the joints and vibrate.  You don't need to vibrate or caulk the joints using Buddy Rhodes, but you must use a pigmented slurry to fill in the voids on the surface.  Also, each mixture listed above has different looks.

It's not hard and not terribly time consuming.  The most labor intensive is mixing the concrete.

Don't forget to add the overflow drain.

 

[sprior]

I'm the guy Tinker was having that discussion with, so I'm interested in this thread.  I've been thinking about adding a laundry style sink to my workshop for a while now and after watching WAY too much DIY Network on TV thought that maybe doing a cement sink would be fun and cool (and besides, since it's for the workshop it doesn't have to be as pretty as a vanity sink).  Some friends have called me nuts (OK, I get that a lot) and said I should just go to a big box store, buy a cheap laundry sink and be done with it.  I figure making a sink and the cabinet it sits on and then being able to point to it and say I made all that from scratch would be cool.

 

[fritter63]

Here's some inspiration (saw this on "Epic Houseboats"):

Ammonite sink

 

[Old School Carpenter]

Now that's sweet! [thumbs up]

Mike

 

[CarolinaNomad]

Forgot to mention, the molds are the deciding factor in the cost of the sink.  Labor and concrete are the same give or take $5 per bag.  If it's just a simple vessel, try to find big salad bowls of different sizes in the kitchen and glue them to Melamine.  If you want something bigger and different, be prepared to get into fiber glass, rubber or wood as the negative or positive, I forget which one, of whatever shape you desire.  Rubber is the easiest of the three mediums to work with from my I experience of seeing on You-tube videos, but it is the most expensive of the three.  Wood is restricted to small curve details and flat surfaces.  Fiberglass can be molded thin, lightweight and sanded to a smooth finish and can be found less expensive, but labor intensive.  And rubber has not restrictions.

One trick is placing foam insulation as the over drain down to the bottom drain.  Once the concrete is dry, pour a little bit of acetone, or whatever acid that eats the foam yet is environmentally safe, ya da ya da ya da (cya), onto the foam insulation.

 

[Mauri Motti]

I follow woodgears.ca and read this post last week about a woodgears reader making a bathtub in wood. It's very interesting imho and definitely worth checking out if you'd decide building a sink in wood.

Check here

 

[sprior]

woodgears.ca is REALLY cool, Matthias makes some wonderful toys and machines.

 

[Kev]

Here's some inspiration (saw this on "Epic Houseboats"):

Ammonite sink

That's really cool - I like that!

 

[Tinker]

woodgears.ca is REALLY cool, Matthias makes some wonderful toys and machines.

Steve, That wood tub is quite intriguing.  You could do that with only the tools you already have.
Welll, maybe after you take that chaperoning trip we spoke about.  (Note: I had offered to allow Steve to chaperone me to the ToyStore. Steve seemed to think he was not the right person to keep me out of trouble.  That's really too bad.  I know I would watch very carefully to keep him out of trouble. [popcorn]) That tub might be a good project to try for your next project with your DF 500.  OOPS!  the 700 might be better.  [poke] I bet the HL 65 would come in very handy as well.  (Just trying to be of help  [smile] )
Tinker

 

[sprior]

I managed to stop at the local Woodcraft on the way home from work today and leave with only the consumables I went there for and nothing with a Festool logo on it.  Somehow that isn't as satisfying an accomplishment as I thought it would be.  [sad]

 

[sprior]

And Tinker, what exactly is the point of doing ANY project that can be done with just the tools you already have???

 

[rjwz28]

How is this related to wood or concrete sink?

 

[Alan m]

i remember seing TOH or renovation nation (steve thomas was in it anyway i think)
they visited some place that made a teak bath for the homeowner
i think they segmented the shape and glued it with epoxy
then shaped it and gave it coats of epoxy
it shouldnt be that hard to build
i would be worried about movment thow

 

[leakyroof]

Check Fine Homebuildings latest edition. They did an article on this, well, countertops. You're supposed to end up with a lighter weight concrete countertop/sink than with other methods.
Everytime I've seen a video of someone doing this, they make it seem easy. [embarassed]