Thread: How to make wooden sink

Those woods are not really suitable unfortunately unless fully encapsulated in epoxy and that Still can fail because of the expansion and contraction of the material. Teak works but requires research ... exterior grade, waterproof glues are available and work well. Some folks have used marine finishes which from memory do work but bathroom sinks experience different conditions than seawater. I do recall a firm made wooden apron sinks that were very beautiful but I never got a response when I sought further info on their durability.

Not much help I know but if you google wooden sinks there are a lot. I found Pinterest had heaps of stunners as well.



Wood Sinks|Wood bathtub|wood kitchen sinks|Wood Vanity Sink|Wood Farmsink|Wood Pedestal Sinks

My suggestion would be polyurethane for glue as it leaves a less visible glue line than epoxy but is still completely waterproof.
As mentioned above, your timber selection might need revising; American Oak is not very stable in changing humidity, quarter cut Vic Ash doesn't move much but it does look a bit boring... Something close-grained and dense like Ironbark or Redgum might be a better choice.

Redgum didn't work when we tried it at Dattner. Far too much movement.

thanks guys...
that's the thing.. lots of beautiful pictures of wooden sink bowls.. but they are all basically brand new... (or photoshopped) and very little mention of of finishes...
and also not really much feedback after some years of use...
Although AM oak might not be ideal timber.. I am hoping resin coating (basically fully coated in / out) would counteract the timber movement at least to some extent...
few years ago I've seen a bathtub made out of teak.. .beautiful piece with not so beautiful price tag.. i think it was around $24000... although I liked the unit.. I definitely did not like the price tag....

How about Western Red Cedar glued with West System epoxy, mate made a stunning yacht with that.
Or Huon Pine same glue just do a few tests to figure out the surface resin removal before tackling the real thing.
H.

Have a look at this https://youtu.be/NQ7DjqXecYI

Hi Wakefield..
I've watched it few times.. my personal worry about his tub that it was leaking (there is followup on that where he tested for leakage and he patched it later but considering there was leakage.. there is a chance moisture might have penetrated that part of the wood....
Again video is about making it... and nothing about how it is performing after lets say few years of use...

@clearout... I'm a bit worried about using softer timber... being bathroom sink..there is a good chance objects will fall and hit it, thus damaging it physically but also damaging the coating...

there is also video where wooden basin was covered with fibre prior to applying resin.. according to video fibre becomes invisible.. but i'm not sure ... since i've never used resin/fibre option

Alen
If the fiberglass cloth is completely wetted out with resin it will be invisible. One of the techniques is to first prime the wood with resin before covering with cloth and wetting out the cloth. After two topping coats the fabric should be undetectable. I'll post a picture later.

6oz per yard fabric (someone else can work out what that is is grams per square metre) should be strong enough to protect western red cedar from damage should something be dropped into the sink.

problems with fiberglass resin composites is that the resin is susceptible to damage from UV so needs a further coating or three.


there are techniques for building wooden tubs that don't involve glue.
One involves pounding a 1/8" or 1/4" steel rod into the wood along the joint line. This creates a long depression of compressed fibres. You then plane away wood from the joint face until the compressed fibers are on the surface. When the wood subsequently takes up moisture and swells, the compressed fibers swell and seal the joint water tight.

Japanese have been making high-end wooden bathtubs for years. I can't remember what they use for glue or finish, but I understand they last for decades.

Ofuro is the name of the Japanese soaking tubs I believe if you're googling. I think there's actually a supplier in the Dandenongs who may be able to advise regarding finishes etc.

Originally Posted by Arron

Japanese have been making high-end wooden bathtubs for years. I can't remember what they use for glue or finish, but I understand they last for decades.

you have to remember that the Japanese wash outside the tub and only use the tub for soaking after they are completely clean. So there are no soaps or oils in a Japanese tub.

also, the Japanese tubs I've used weren't glued or finished, they were constructed using coopering techniques.

Ofuro!!!! My wife wants a big one of these

I was was thinking about surfboards. Wooden ones are coated in epoxy and fibreglass.

This is seems an identical process. The abuse of salt, use, UV and crashes is a million fold greater than a sink will receive.

thanks for the info guys
considering it is a bathroom so not really outside item UV shouldn't be too much of an issue...
I do understand am oak timber movement.. but was wandering if the sink is fully coated in resin.. then (theorethically) there should be none or minimal moisture content change so it shouldnt move that much..

not sure whether fibre is really needed as in is fibre only making surface harder or it actually helps in water sealing too??

A long time ago they used to make lots of huon pine laundry sinks here in Tassie.
I don't think they used any finish on them at all, just really good joints.
Occasionally you still see the odd one.