I am a fabricator. "Solid surface resin" is the "glue" used in the manufacturing of engineered stone materials like Silestone, Hanstone, and Zodiac. It is a petrochemical based liquid that is cured under high temperatures to a relatively hard solid. However, it is far from as hard as stainless or porcelain so it makes a questionable material for a sink. That said, I've been selling resin sinks for several years now and have not had complaints about them scratching too easily. The manufacturers give them names like "Granitestone" and "Granite Composite" which, IMHO, makes them sound much more durable and scratch resistant than they are. I hope this was helpful.

Thanks oldryder, that is helpful. I'd heard of granite composite and you're right, that does make it sound durable. My concern with a farmhouse sink is that they seem like they would be difficult to replace if they were ruined somehow. They cost a lot and they are all somewhat unique. If I have a typical drop-in sink and something happens to it replacing it wouldn't be a huge deal. With fireclay the thought that it could literally crack and then it would be expensive and difficult to replace is just too scary. Cast iron could chip but you'd still have a functioning sink. My main question about this material is what's the worst that could happen too it? Do you have to be careful with heat? I don't set hot pans in my sink, but I do pour boiling water in them. We have an acrylic sink now. I like that my dishes bounce if I drop them :) but it was already stained when we bought the house and you can't un-stain them. If I'm going to go with a major fixture like a farmhouse sink I'd rather just pay for the one with the best odds of surviving the longest!

Something that is rarely talked about, mainly because it is rare to happen is, Thermal shock. Basically it's when something is at one extreme temperature and is quickly changed to the opposite extreme temperature, Hot to Cold, Cold to Hot, expansion & contraction occurs. Very rare but I have seen it happen to a countertop & granite sink. I live in an area where it can get down pretty cold. We're sitting at -30 C today. Imagine coming into a cold house/cottage, your heat is set low because you've been away for awhile, & you dump boiling pasta water into your cold sink that hasn't acclimatized yet. The floor and walls of the sink expand/contract in different directions. The result can be structural failure. Again, very rare, most will never see this, but it can happen. Even your current acrylic sink would be susceptible to this. You ask what's the worse, that's about it. Will it happen? Unlikely.

Design Loft, I learned that lesson in my early twenties when I tried to fill an empty but hot coffee pot with cold water! It shattered into a million pieces. I've been very careful, especially with glass (and I love cooking with Pyrex) ever since. So I'm not especially worried about this. I'd be more concerned about heat melting or otherwise damaging the finish. I'd also really like to avoid a material that would stain to the point you couldn't clean it out. I once had this old cast iron sink and it was dingy but you could clean it right up and make it look new. It wouldn't stay that way unfortunately but at least you could get it looking nice if you wanted to, I can't get the stains out of the acrylic even for a bit. I'm pretty easy on stuff, but my husband, not so much. He'll empty coffee into the sink and not rinse it out. I'd be curious what scratches on this kind of material would look like too? Some material can scratch and its fine. I don't mind how stainless steel looks scratched for instance (not that i particularly like stainless) but I'd hate if scratches looked like what you'd see on a plastic cutting board! Yuk.