Bathroom Counter/Sink

  Concept 3D Render.

Ever since I saw a particular episode of 'grand designs' a few years ago,  I have wanted to make this.  

A bathroom vanity counter top made of laminated birch plywood, with the sink integrated to be all one piece.

Finally, a few years later now, a friend who will be renovating their bathroom gave me the go-ahead to make it for him.  

The process to make this counter and sink starts in the computer, modelling the sink basin.  The the 3D object then gets sliced up into the thickness of the birch plywood.  Each of those slices gets sent to the CNC software and are layed out into the 5'x4' sheet of plywood.

the machine cuts them out and away we go.

All the slices cut.

All the slices are assembled to ensure correct fit and order.  Then they are taken apart and numbered, then reassembled.  This time with glue and clamps.  

The glued up sink slices are then taken to the machine for the finishing cut pass.  Inside and out. 

  Next is a whole lot of sanding to make it nice and smooth, then back to the machine to cut the drain hole.

Drain Hole is cut, the dish is sanded, and we are ready to start glueing up the counter portion. 

But because of how many pieces I had to glue up to make the counter portion, and how little time there is to glue and get the pieces in the clamps, I forgot to take any photos of the glueing process.

after all the glueing was complete and the counter sections attached to the sink section the entire, now one piece, sink and counter needed to be planed down to be all even.

Next I attached some stiffening rails to the underside of the counter.  At this point, because of the lamination direction, the counter does not have any strength in the lengthwise direction other than the glue that is holding it together. so the 1" steel conduit pipes that I used keep the counter from flexing too much during transport.

Here I have temporarily placed the plumbing hardware into the counter and placed the backsplash in it's potentially final location.  It looks great!   next step is to epoxy the top and start sanding it down to that fine satin finish  that the client wants.

The Mirror coat epoxy was applied to the sink and it looks like it went on perfectly.

But as you can see in the second image while sanding the counter down to the satin finish I sanded right through the epoxy and into the wood.  This is no good.  I made 2 more attempts at painting on thin coats to cover the blemish and resanding to the satin finish, and on each occasion again sanding through the epoxy I have decided to look for another avenue for sealing this project.

I have come across a product called an Aliphatic Clearcoat, which can be sprayed on, it will not drip or leak, it sets quickly and can be applied in multiple coats to achieve a desired thickness.  Perfect,  if only I knew about this before.  So the product has been ordered and I am now waiting for it to arrive so I can take the counter to the paintbooth and have the coating applied.  Hopefully this will work as intended and I can soon deliver this beautiful bathroom vanity counter to its owner.