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Franke orca sink

14 years ago

I'm new to posting here but have been reading and learning from others experiences for a while. We're about to start the demo phase of our remodel and I'm still stuck on choosing the sink. I have cream (gardenia) Shaker style custom cabs coming in from Greenfield and am planning to use a marble called Emperador light for the counters.

I really like the Franke orx110 sink with all it's accessories but really like the look of it in fireclay better and feel like it suits the style of my kitchen/house better. But the dimensions are different (smaller) than the SS version, so the fireclay sink only has the bottom and 2 shelf grids as optional accessories. For those of you who own either the fireclay or SS versions of this sink, what accessories do you find you use the most? I would've liked to be able to get the cutting board and the colander with the fireclay version but can't. I wonder if those of you who have it in fireclay have found other non-Franke options that work well. So I can't decide whether to give more weight to look/feel or functionality. Thanks for any input you can give me!

Heather

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Comments (3)

bireland
14 years ago
Franke Orca SS...I bought the bottom grid and the right hand grid for my Orca (now in service for a month). Removed the bottom grid as it got in the way when I cleaned (two grids together were awkward). Now when I clean I can just quickly lift up the right grid and I'm done. I use the right grid for everything...a drying rack for pots & dishes and draining for fruits & veggies. I put the bottom grid back if I'm washing a bunch of pots, like for a dinner party. I LOVE this sink.
datura-07
14 years ago
I have the SS but only have the left grid. It is the coated one . I don't want coated for the bottom grid so I'm waiting until it comes out. It should be by now but I've been too busy with other things. I also added a prep sink in the island which I use all the time.

I don't want to get the Orca dirty - love the look when it's so shinny. I have a huge sewing room off the kitchen which has lots of counters and a double SS sink so I find myself taking pot and large items in there to wash them. I don't want to put that first scratch in it. Been three months.

I do use the Orca grid for thawing stuff. When I do wash in it I use the rid to drain the clean ones.

Just a warning!!!!!!
I purchased the colander - wanted it so bad. After the granite was installed I pulled out the colander and it didn't fit It was too large for the space. I wanted a negative reveal on the sink making the colander too long. Mine is 1/4 inch too large to fit. I'm just sick about it. So have the colander to give to your granite people so they can cut it to fit.
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I have had an Orca sink for 6 years. The faucet is placed similarly to hsw's. The soap dispenser is on the right side. We also have a Franke faucet. Franke backs their products 100%. Great customer service. They sent us a new faucet head without question when the piece that switches from spray to full broke. No questions asked. I have the full and 1/2 grids. They did not have non coated when we bought. I do have the cutting board which comes in very handy. We did not do a bump out but we had to have part of the cabinet cut to fit it since it was being placed in a slightly smaller cabinet then recommended. My one must haves was to have the largest sink I could fit in my galley kitchen. Mission accomplished.
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Franke has three distinct branches in the US: 1) "FrankeKSD" - High end www.frankeksd.com you can see the Orca there - the accessory shelf is described. Linked below. 2) "Kindred" - middle quality. www.kindred-usa.com The Kindred Collection is fairly new, and offers some very nice sinks, including worktop sinks for those of you who are looking for one similar to mine. 3) "FrankeUSA" - lower end - higher gauge www.frankeuse.com These are the ones that big box stores sell - I wouldn't buy one, as most have 20+ gauge. I looked on all the sites, and the only sink on the three Franke sites which looks like the Orca is made by FrankeKSD. Maybe the ebay seller lists Kindred as Kindred is on some of the documentation? Hard to tell if it is a knock off or a great deal. I checked the listing - all the photos are the same, and they all say "open box." I'm not sure what to think about that. By the same token, the seller gets fairly good reviews. Here is a link that might be useful: FrankeKSD Orca Page
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I was a bit scared off by a couple of posts here (a few years ago) by people whose upper grids slipped out of place, causing dishes to crash to the bottom in their Orcas. One of them specified owning a fireclay Orca, so perhaps this isn't an issue with the more popular SS. Since no news is good news and no one has responded with this problem, I assume this is really a non-issue and the rack is sturdy enough to handle the weight of scrubbing pots (along with my own weight!). Any thoughts about using the left upper grid with the drain and dishwasher on the left? Wondering why the right grid is so much more popular...
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heather720
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you for your responses! I went to Ferguson's today and saw the Orca in fireclay and didn't love it. Ended up liking the single big bowl better. Trying to decide between the Franke OAK 110 (large single bowl fireclay) vs. the Kohler Cape Dory undermount in Cane sugar. Has anyone seen the Franke OAK 110 in person? Can't find it locally as it's relatively new, per Franke. I love the Cane sugar color/finish so that may be a strong factor in helping me decide. The Franke fireclay I saw on the Orca, I didn't like as well as the Shaw. Anyone else notice a difference in the fireclay between different companies?

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