Jon,

I have fabricated a lot of them. I use only the .400 material now and not the 1/4" laminated on particle board material. Reason being a lot more steps that make labor value get back up to the price difference to the .400 material. So after that the biggest issues I have had are fixing the tiny pin holes that can show up during normal sanding. Also the fact of getting that itch factor under control thanks to the glass fibers added. I have had good luck with the product preformance wise, but colors have always been a large draw back consumer wise. Also for you Jon the thermo forming aspect is out of the picture this stuff does not do that at all.

Reuben

Waaaaay back in time we always had issues with air traps in the sinks.

Not the best material to fabricate, to be sure.

I have very limited experience but agree with all the points Tom made.

Jon, my experiences (very limited)

1. Itch was mostly from sanding before we had vacs. That will help and/or wet.

2. Same tools as it is SS.

3. Filled as we found them with adhesive.

Not sure about the fab manual, I never had one. They used to sell this stuff to homeowners I think, That is why we stopped using it. Again, this was a looong time ago.

Jon I use to fab and sell a lot of the 1/4" over particle board.  Rough on tooling but used the same as SS.  Back and end splashes use to be a pain but the biggest problem we had was cracking from the factory edge running back into the deck in the middle of a run and then Swanstone would not back it.  Lost a track of homes over this issue.

Jon,

The itch is generally those doing the fabricating. I get it when doing the routing of edge profile, sink etc. During sanding not issue do to vac. The tools are all the same except for the sink cut out bit. It is a meat shreader type bit and I recomend to use it because if using regular flute bits you will dull them extremely fast. Like maybe one bowl and done. My experience has been being able to get about 15 to 20 double bowl kitchen sinks before needing a new one.

Air pockets are from the manufacture process. It is but in a huge press system and basically smashed out so little ate pockets

(pin holes) develop. Sheets stock has not been a big problem except a couple colors for some reason and as far a sinls I have had problems only with the solid colors on a few occasions. I fill them in with adheasive as Bill said or if have a larger on take some of the adheadive a dust from the routing process mix a little paste and fil to make it look better.

Swan also has some preformed .400 stuff and still some prefomed stuff over particle board and honey comb material that non certified fabricators can get ahold of, they an only sofet seam it and not hard sean it and of course they tell us certified fabricators we are not suppose to either, but they do not warranty seams any way so you know how that goes. Like I said I only use the .400 material now.

As far a fab manual well you get one when you take the class at the factory and take the tour of the plant. the last one I got was not a very good one to say the least. They want to really train the people who will be fabricating the product not just a shop. I was told that if I send a employee to get certified that certification belongs to them and not the shop only. So they go some where else so goes the certification.

Hope that helps some.

we also fabricate swanstone tops. Jon remember when you seam swanstone together the seam adhesive does not hold the seam together like the acrylic material. when you have a seam you will need a seam plate at least 8" on each side of the seam. Make sure you use alot of seam adhesive on that seam plate. also for sanding and finishing we found 220 grit and maroon scotch brite is the best. If you have darker colors get yourself a case of countertop magic. that helps alot.c-top magic brings back the color after sanding. As for the itching.... well after awhile you get use to it. My guys complained more about the smell when cutting then the itching part. nick

Thanks everyone. Great Info!!!!