Handmade vs Pressed Stainless Steel Sinks
A pressed sink is drawn from a sheet in one operation on a die. A handmade sink is cut, folded, welded and dressed. The difference decides what sizes you can offer and what they cost you.
What pressing can and cannot do
Pressing is fast and consistent, and the unit cost falls sharply with volume.
The die fixes the bowl size, the depth and the corner radius. Changing any of them means a new die.
Draw limits also cap how deep a bowl can be for a given corner radius — the tighter the corner, the shallower the press can go.
What fabrication allows
Welding the corners removes the draw limit, so a deep bowl with a tight radius becomes possible.
Size becomes a drawing input rather than a tooling decision, which is why a fabricated range can carry dozens of sizes.
The trade is labour: welding and dressing every corner is slower than a press stroke.
Where the cost actually lands
At high volume in one size, pressing wins on unit cost.
Across many sizes, or at moderate volume, fabrication usually wins because there is no tooling to amortise.
For a brand launching a range, fabrication also removes the risk of paying for a die that sells badly.
How to tell them apart
Look at the inside corners. A pressed bowl has a smoothly drawn corner that flows into the base; a fabricated bowl has a corner that has been welded and dressed.
On a well-dressed handmade sink the joint is invisible, which is exactly the point — you are paying for the dressing, not for a visible weld.
Products This Guide Refers To
Built to the cut-out you already have, not the other way round
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Two equal bowls behind a flat steel apron
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Two bowls, your split, one fabricated body
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Questions On This Topic
Are handmade sinks stronger than pressed ones?
Not inherently. They allow shapes a press cannot reach, and a dressed weld is as strong as the parent sheet when done properly.
Do welded corners leak over time?
A correctly welded and dressed corner is continuous metal. Leaks at corners come from poor welding, not from the method.
Which do you produce?
Both routes are used depending on the product. Our undermount and apron sinks are fabricated.
Specifying A Sink And Want A Second Opinion
Send the drawing or the sample. We will tell you what will hold and what will not before you commit to it.