Just a few comments from a materials engineer. To put things straight, I'm familiar with various stainless alloys but do not work directly with them. I deal with zinc coated steel. Davidrol's comments in terms of the name are a little off but he is correct that one should read other sources for more info. One should think of it as 'stains' less. Any alloy will have an environment that will corrode or attack it. Basically the stainless alloys will have different levels of chrome or nickel. Depending on the alloying level of each element different oxides or passivating layers will form on the surface. These thin oxide layers on the surface are what prevent any corrosive attack. For the most part in the home environment most of the alloys wheter 200, 300 or 400 series alloys will provide adequate red rust resistance. However, fingerprints are a different matter and really is not directly effected by the alloy. Just rub a mirror and see if it looks different after you touch it with your greasy fingers. In terms of finish any given alloy can be ordered with various finishes. This could be a 'matte' rolled look, brushed or even polished. All depends on what the various manufacturer specifies. In terms of the various stainless look finishes, these are typically a low carbon steel substrate that could have a zinc coating or not but also have a clear paint layer on top. One should avoid scrubbing on these types of surfaces. In general some stainless alloys may be more susceptible to attack by various household cleaners. I for one have experience with ammonia containing cleaners leaving surface rust on 400 or magnetic stainless. I will vouch for Bar Keepers Friend in being able to remove various levels of staining and leaving it fairly resistant to additional stains. One should also note that this product is also recommended by All-Clad for removing any bluish stains on their pots. (All Clad generally will sandwich aluminum between 300 and 400 stainless alloys in their pots, but their more pricier versions have many different layers.) In terms of fingerprinting seen on the surfaces one again should reference the manufacturer's manual. Some give recommendations. We had fairly good luck with 'stainless wipes' found at Bed Bath and Beyond on our old stainless appliances. (Our current home has white appliances, and my wife feels they look 'brighter' so we decided to keep white with any new appliance.)

jake - the ebay pulls are solid and very heavy. THAT SAID, hollow isn't necessarily bad. Obviously when you hold a solid pull in your hand vs. a hollow one, one will feel heavier and, arguably, "more expensive." Once the pull is mounted, however, feeling heavy is not so much a factor. As long as they're not so hollow/thin that they could get dinged or dented, how they look (i.e., not cheap) and how they feel when you're using them are more important factors. I don't have experience with the Ikea handles, so I couldn't say. FWIW, the Contempo (Ebay) pulls are about the same price or cheaper than the Ikea ones that are 21" or shorter, and you have a lot more options on sizes from Contempo. The Contempo handles also use metric measurements (when I mentioned before that the seller's measurements were a little off, that's why - he's advertising in inches instead of the mm as they were made). My guess is that most of the European-style bar pulls on the market are going to be in metric, actually. re: screws, my installer had to use longer screws that she had on hand because the metric ones were too short. It looks like from Pharaoh's post that they'll send you the longer ones if you ask.

I did a little googling about the magnetic properties of stainless steel, and I learned that depending on what elements are added to the steel to improve corrosion resistance (making it "stainless,") you can end up with a product that is no longer magnetic. There was nothing in what I read to indicate why one process is more desireable than another, but I'm guessing for kitchen appliances the stainless products that are selected are chosen for their ability to resist denting, maintain color, they must come in the right sheet stock for manufacturers, etc. The magnetic properties are clearly not a priority among these manufacturers - what a market they're missing! Back to the question of bar pulls - are they all the same quality wise?

I have the Ruvati single bowl sink. Pros: It's big and holds a lot of dishes. It's sturdy and insulated well enough for me. I like the ledge for accessories. Cons: It has a flat bottom, so I chase food around the sink with the sprayer trying to get food particles down the drain. It has tight corners and hard to clean. The colander has wood, so I'm not sure how long that will last and it has large holes and is open on each end. That prevents you from using it for anything small, like straining spaghetti. I suppose you could use it for larger cut vegetables. I personally have it on the ledge and use it to set my liquid soap bottle, scrubbies and to hang my dishcloth to dry on the edge. I sometimes rinse my flatware and place in there prior to loading the dishwasher. I bought an after market, fine mesh colander that expands to fit the ledge and I store it in my cabinets. The grid for the bottom of the sink I thought was a good idea when I bought the sink. I hate it. The space between grids is too large to prevent anything from falling through. It gets food gunk on it, so I would be constantly scrubbing it and have to take it out to clean the sink. I don't use it anymore. If I could have a do-over, I would not purchase it again. You spend a lot of time at the sink, so allow enough in your budget to get a sink that will make using it less of a chore.