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Lenny,
If only the surface is hardened, how deep does it go? Will a resand now take considerably longer with this? How many resands will we have before we get through the surface?Eli Good question,
I think its only a matter of time before you see scratch resistant SS in the marketplace, be it either a dyeing of the filler, or hardening of the surface.
Im betting it wont be driven by a major player, but a small to mid sized company that wants to garner market share.
Wags,
All good questions. Without giving away work for hire, It was a surface effect, that could vary in depth. You did see increased tool wear, but it was still workable with carbide tooling. Eventually you could sand it through it.
the sinks tend to be another problem they crack after a while my personal SS sink n my home started cracking around the drain after about 5 years. i am sure that it had to do with the constant expansion and contraction due to hot and cold water. my sink did not get any abuse just regular uses. it is not just my sink i just replace one in a condo 2 months ago that had cracked all the way through and was leaking so it was replace with a drop in stainless sink. over the years i would say i see at least 2 sinks a year in need of repair.
im one of about 10 fabricators in my area if I’m getting 2 i don’t know how many total are out there every year.
I think the key point is”I dont know how many total are out there?” So is there something I may help you with? Are you looking for SS sink repair data? Granite top failure data? How may I help you?
Sinks are not nearly the problem today, they were 20 years ago. Most cases I have seen are mis use. Typically its around the drain, on the disposer side and is caused in part, by over tightening of the disposal. Add to that the vibration and yes to some extent, the thermal shock. The warranty on sinks, I would bet, is only a few percent.
Lenny does the “system” for hardening the sheet change the color or intensity of the color? Can you still get a matte, satin or gloss finish? Does it work on both acrylic and poly? I don’t want you giving away any secrets, but, is it cost that has stopped someone from utilizing this?
Is every major company run by bean counters? Isn’t there any “real “ss guys still around?
Hi Wags,
You are correct; SS sinks have come a long way. Its all about proper RM and process. Im really impressed with those transolid sinks made down Mexico way. And those fiberglass matte backed sinks you can beat with a baseball bat and not crack (Swanstone) sure are strong. While I was never a fan of the look they are durable to say the least.
To answer your question, the hardening did not change color to the extent it could not be color matched. It was doable in poly blend or acrylic. I did matte finish and semi gloss, but never tried high polish although I think it would be doable. It was an added expense, but not terribly so. I think the killer was it didn’t work in that particular process without some capital investment.
Heres a true story to explain big corps. Years ago I worked on putting Microban into SS. It’s a bacteriostat that kills germs. It was an added expense. The company didn’t think homeowners would pay for a bacteriostat in a sanitary surface. I was aiming it as hospitals; nursing homes etc, so I said just make another sku for the hospital applications.
The lawyers killed it. They were afraid the plant guys would inadvertently leave it out of that sku, someone would get sick and open us up to millions in liability per job. And as much as I hate to admit it, they were right. However I see its since been included in certain Estones etc.
Now Im sure this will happen. Someone will dye the ATH, harden the working surface, but it wont be a big player. The bigger they are, the smaller the balls!
sinks are a minor issue in the over all picture i had no disposal in mine and it still cracked. i would say the # of fabricators is more of an issue i remember when SS fabricators were more like an exclusive club and was guarded by the manufacturers and the distributors. now at least in my area you can call just about any distributor and as long as they have a place to drop it off they will. DuPont is the only one still kind of holding onto the old ways. and i think it is going to take more than a scratch resistant top to help SS.
Politefab, I agree some will sell to anyone, but there is some control since the mfg is at least partly on the hook for warranty. The stone industry is much worse. They sell to anyone with a yard and a wet saw, and have no responsibility for what happens. The stone industry is out of control, and they better wake up or it will kill the industry. All these back yard hacks do is drive the price down. We have people selling Stone counters, installed for $17 a foot, and this is NOT blanks, its slabs. No one can stay in business and pay all the “typical” taxes, insurance, etc at $17 a foot.
Solid Surface and ES industry is somewhat more regulated than the stone industry, by far.
Sinks are a non issue. Put in thousands of sinks I can count on one hand how many have cracked. In fact I have had more issues with stainless dents and scratches that with SS sinksLook at this chart.. I think we will see that $200 sooner than we thought. What would be happening if the world was not in the funk its in?
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