Replies

1. 
   Mikeybob33 | Jun 18, 2002 05:42am | #1

   Tim,

   I have never worked with zinc b4 but became interested after a post here before the change.  Someone posted a link to a supplier.  Don't remeber who it was but they sent me some samples.  I took these and tested them with OJ, wine, cleaners, scratches etc.  Zinc seems to discolor easily.  It oxidizes like other metals and acids will remove oxidation leaving a spot.

   Get a sample for your client and let them see for themselves if it will suit their tastes.

   Mike

1. 
   quizical | Jun 18, 2002 07:36am | #2

   Thanks, I have a local sheet metal supplier who can get zinc sheets and has worked with it before. However, he all but questioned my sanity about the suitability of a zinc kitchen counter -- but couldn't deal in specifics. Also said it was more expensive than copper. Zinc counters are used in Europe (a bastion of regulation!) and a company called Soupcan, Inc. in Chicago promotes them. My client likes the idea of a "patina" developing. My plan, if zinc is used, is to vacuum press the sheets to a plywood substrate. Any thoughts. . .

1. 
   Handydan | Jun 18, 2002 11:22am | #3

   Hey Tim;   This opinion is based on nothing but gut feeling so you are probably getting about what you paid for, but here goes anyway.   If a little strip of zinc will stop moss and mildew on a roof top, what in the world would a countertop of it do to all the food that invariably will contact it, and the dishwater soap in the sink?  Somehow it don't sound like a good Idea to me.  Would copper develop the appropriate patina?  There are lots of cooks that use copper, I don't know that I have ever seen zinc pots.  Well, thats more than I know for now.

   Dan       Been there, never heard of that!

2. 
   Mikeybob33 | Jun 19, 2002 05:23am | #4

   Tim,

   I seem to remember from a previous post that zinc is supposed to be a suitable material for counter tops.  I do know that it is frequently used for bar tops.

   I would pose the question of food contamination to the supplier just to be sure.

   As for techniques in building a top, I would treat it just like laminate.  It can be cut with a saw and filed like laminate.  I am guessing that most contact adhesives will work just fine.  Is this a squre edge top or bullnose?  If square edge, I don't see the need for the vacuum press.

   Mike

1. 
   donpapenburg | Jun 19, 2002 06:35am | #5

   They used to make the kithen sinks from zink . A lot of old wimmen , when I was growing up , would call the sink a zink.