What are your size limitations or desires? I have also been shopping this market and have become reasonably convinced that I will be best off to buy an undermount, single basin sink (probably kraus), and buy after-market additions that create most of the work-station functions that I'm looking for.

Thanks for the response Muriel. I will be completely changing out the kitchen cabinets so i believe that means I will be able to fit any size of sink as long as the cabinet is wide enough. 30 to 34 inches looks to be a sweet spot between good size and affordable cost. I'm leaning toward your idea too. Have you found any after market additions that you would like to share?

Nothing in particular: I anticipate a roll out dish drainer to go over the top of the sink, there are myriad extendable collanders available, and I think I'll contemplate having a custom cutting board made to fit the space if it seems like a good idea after I've been in the new kitchen. There are also a lot of extendable cutting boards made of synthetic materials that could easily cover the top of the sink.

Kraus KWT300-32 Workstation 32-inch Drop-In or Undermount Single Bowl

Good recommendation. I'm seeing conflicting information if the corners are rounded or 90° on the Amazon store page but I like the dual mount in case i just want to drop it in. Does anyone have experience with both a 9" and 10" deep basin and if 9" is enough depth to avoid backsplash and how they effect the ergonomics of the sink. (I'm 6'1")

"I'm seeing conflicting information if the corners are rounded"

If you click on the pictures you can see that all corners are rounded.

I'm in the same boat. I've been looking at Kraus and Ruvati because they seem to have the best reviews (even though the low pricing sort of gives me pause), but I can't stand tight 90 degree corner sinks. I'm more of a form follows function person, so having to work extra hard to constantly clean my sink's inside corners doesn't work for me, even if the look is slick. Even a 1/2" radius would be fine.

I prefer not to get a dual mount because they have too thick of a flange to directly sandwich in-between the plywood and the quartz, and a back flange with holes is less desirable as well.

UPDATE: I'd be okay with a dual mount at this point, now that I'm not sandwiching based on the recommendation of @Joseph Corlett, LLC

I have 30" of space to work with.

@Luke Hagenbach Real Estate: "I prefer not to get a dual mount"

Elkay ECTRU30169RTWC Crosstown 31-1/2" Undermount Single Basin...

I realize that Rachiele sinks, even when on sale, are completely outside of the price range that you asked for, so I am not suggesting you buy one. But I still recommend you visit the https://rachiele.com website. Dino spent decades perfecting the design and is very generous with sharing what he has learned in the process. His website is a fount of knowledge. And yes, he addresses the question of optimal depth and what corners work best.

In short, he recommends a larger, shallower sink with relatively sharp corners. This maximizes the usable space for what you want to set into the sink while retaining good ergonomics. And yes, the ability to add accessories to the top ledges goes a long way towards improving usability and space utilization. But watch his videos to understand how all of this fits together.

@josephcorlett Thanks for sharing. I asked all over the internet, including a discussion on Contractor Talk, when planning out my sink installation, and many fabricators said that it's a very common practice, and that hardware is not very common any longer. I wasn't sure if my fabricator was just being lazy.

The reason I asked was because this was suggested to me by my fabricator, and I very much like the idea of being able to put a 28-30 inch basin inside my base cabinet that has 30.25 inches of clearance left to right. If I have to fit clips inside that base cabinet, I will be forced to have a very small kitchen sink. One would think that vertical cabinet walls will support a considerable amount of weight for the flange portion that overhangs. I can see how if the sink was ever needing to be replaced (not sure why a stainless steel sink would be replaced though) it would be a lot of work cutting those panels and the rest of the plywood under the flange.

Does Black Mama not hold a sink all by itself? I did wonder about these concerns

I think, Joseph generally prefers straps over clips. I believe that also gives you more flexibility in how to attach things and you can use the available space better. I think, I have heard him mention the Hercules Universal Harness in the past, so that might be something to look into.

@M @Joseph Corlett, LLC Thank you for the comments. I looked up those straps. They look pretty simple, even if they do complicate the spaghetti under the sink. I'm surprised that those wires do not pull the sides of the cabinet walls over time and eventually loosen. Why not use Epoxy? Is the benefit purely about being able to switch out the sink at a later time? I do see the benefit there.

Yes, I did check out Rachiele when I was researching my "wishlist" sink (316 stainless steel, etc.) before coming to reality about budget on this project. I even emailed him about some things and he was generous with answering questions. His sinks are certainly great if someone has a budget for them.

His sinks are worth every penny. But boy do they take a lot of pennies :-) I guess that's what it takes to order a 100% custom built product instead of something that is (semi-) mass produced.

"Why not use Epoxy?"

Because it works too well. My installer split this stone and blew out the edges driving a scraper between the epoxied sink flange and the bottom of the stone. Fortunately I'm as good at picking customers as I am at repairs. This guy got a nice discount and we got a spanking. The gloss matches, the repair cannot be felt, and it looks like a natural fissure in the stone. Had he not seen it, I wouldn't have said a thing.

Apparently Black Mamba does hold sinks, but I'm again concerned about it working too well. A strapped and siliconed sink will fit in the same size cabinet as the sink, never leaks, and changes out in just over an hour at very little risk.

If anyone does find a 30" (flange to flange) undermount workstation with rounded inside corners (even a super slight radius) and 28"x16" room inside the basin, please post it here for documentation. That Elkay above will not work because it would involve cutting past the side of the cabinet where the dishwasher is, and that would leave no vertical support for the plywood deck that spans across the dishwasher opening.

Ruvati has the perfect workstation, RVH8030, but it's top mount and they do not advertise it as a dual mount sink. The undermount options from them and others are all 90 degree radius, which is too much cleaning maintenance.

"That Elkay above will not work because it would involve cutting past the side of the cabinet where the dishwasher is, and that would leave no vertical support for the plywood deck that spans across the dishwasher opening."

The Elkay will work. Cutting past the side of the cabinet is not a structural issue, because you're going to strap the sink in place front to back. Now the sink, in conjunction with the cabinet front and back, is doing the structural work the cabinet side was doing.

And get rid of the full plywood underlayment please. It is unnecessary, wonky, wasteful, and generally troublesome. Make the front edge build up wide enough to sit on the cabinet fronts and adhere scraps to the bottom in the back.

Ruvati may not tell you that you can undermount the RVH8030, but I'm telling you that you can.

"If anyone does find a 30" (flange to flange) undermount workstation with rounded inside corners..."

Nantucket SR-PS-3018-16 Series 30" Single Bowl Undermount Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink in Brushed Satin

@Joseph Corlett, LLC That plywood is necessary at this point to keep the height of my countertop at the right size for the miter edge profile (1-3/8") so that it sits just above my drawer pulls everywhere. That's how the cabinet maker designed it, so I will have to keep the plywood. A 10-in sink basin will sit right on top of those hinges accounting for this plywood. This is the same guy who wanted to sandwich the sink in between the plywood and the quartz, before your advice made me decide against that.

suppose I could cut off the section above the dishwasher so that I have the ability to get that larger sink? I don't necessarily need to plywood above the dishwasher, if I don't have to have the two cabinets connected by the plywood.

"Make the front edge build up wide enough to sit on the cabinet fronts and adhere scraps to the bottom in the back."

I'm not exactly sure what you are saying here. Forgive me, I'm still learning.

"Nantucket SR-PS-3018-16 Series 30" Single Bowl Undermount Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink in Brushed Satin"

@wdccruise That sink has 2 inches less space front to back from the 32" version, which makes it too cramped to be workable. 16" front to back is a requirement.

Luke:

The plywood is underlayment only. You can have full underlayment or strip underlayment. Strip underlayment is preferable because it is more flat among other reasons. I was assuming you had a built-up front edge to cover the plywood; you have a mitered edge that does. You'll probably need strip underlayment behind the mitered edge to keep the top at the proper height above the cabinets.

"A 10-in sink basin will sit right on top of those hinges accounting for this plywood."

You'll still have your plywood, but since it's in strip form, you can afford to have cabinet grade plywood which is much more flat and stable than the roof sheathing most fabricators screw to cabinets.