[ling13323]

I'm looking at a D-shaped single bowl undermount SS sink, and it's come down to the Ticor S405 from Galaxy Tool Supply or the Artisan A2321-D9. I was all set to go with the Artisan, which my granite fabricator is giving me a good price on. However, it's still about $80 net more expensive than ordering Ticor online. Both are still worlds more reasonable than anything at a big box store.

Does anybody have any experience comparing the two, either individual sinks, or the companies' products in general? They both seem to get very good reviews, and the only plus I can find in Artisan's favor is that it's UPC certified, but I don't know if that's worth the extra cash (and the embarrassment of retracting my Artisan order). Every little bit is adding up now.

The other thing is they have very slightly different bowl dimensions. Ticor is W21 5/8" x L19" x D9 1/2". Artisan is W21 3/4" x L19 1/4" x D9", just a tad bigger. The difference really are very slight, but ...

My plan is to have a 36" sink base to the right of the fridge, and have the sink as far over as possible in the cabinet, using the in between space for a narrow dish drainer. I'll have 2" of filler between the fridge cover panel and the sink cab, for a total of 37.25" of space for dish drainer + sink cutout. My dish drainer is 13.5"-14" wide (hard to measure exactly), and I was trying to get as much space in so that the dish drainer wouldn't be right up against the cover panel or falling into the sink. Is it even going to make a noticeable difference at all?

I know tiny details like this shouldn't be so consuming, but they are!

Edit: Also, found this one reference to 16 gauge actually being thicker than what Galaxy Tool Supply says the Ticor sinks are, and that by the stated thickness it's actually 18 gauge. Thoughts?

[Harpy]

FWIW, that sounds like the same guy over at gardenweb who took a micrometer to it. If you search the kitchens forum there, you will see that everyone else with a ticor sink is pretty happy (except for some design issues with the zero radius models). IMHO, if you are the kind of person who needs a micrometer to determine whether or not to like your sink, you aren't likely to be too happy with much of anything in life.

Gardenweb kitchen forum is here:

Kitchen Forum - GardenWeb

lots about ticor, little about artisan, I'm afraid.

[closer]

Everything the gentlemen told you about the Micrometer is true. GAUGE is everything, 16ga Artisan is 20% thicker then 18ga. They are UPC certified as you stated UPC is the ONLY USA testing facility to make sure your sink is actually made out of 304 stainless. If tere is no testing you are taking a chance. Thickness relates to less dents and better thermal retention in the water not to mention when you turn your disposal on the sink dosent ring. Artisan is everything your fabricator told you and more. See thier ads in TRENDS magazine, Food and Wine and Better homes and gardens to name a few. Great price Great Products.
Hope i wasnt to late to give you some good solid information.

[fisheggs]

On the other hand, Consumer reports recently stated that they didn't find any appreciable difference in performance between the two gauges of sink.