Wooden Range Hood

[FalconFan]

We are doing a kitchen remodel and I was tasked with building a hood for our new range. I picked some poplar out of the stack that I cut from a tree that blew down at my granddad's house. The wood has some beautiful color and spalting. Lets begin!

Sawing the logs back in January.
 

 

Digging to the bottom of the stack to pick out the boards I want.
 

 

Measuring boards to see how much I needed.
 

  

Breaking down the stock and laying out the panels.
 

 

Using the thickness planer and a shelving board to flatten the boards. This was my first time doing this, it worked well (not perfect) and was pretty fast once I got the technique down.
 

 

I used hot glued on these pine blocks for clamping. I did this because I did not want to trim the ends of the boards before gluing them so that I could layout the panel to get the most color in it. One thing that I learned quickly was to NOT glue the blocks on parallel to the grain because it tore parts of the panel when I took them off. When I glued them perpendicular to the grain I did not have this issue. The hot glue held very well and made clamping a breeze.
 

 

I dont have many power tools at my house and did not want to make the trip to my granddads shop to work on it so I used mostly hand tools to cut and plane everything to size.
 

 
 

 

I also used my Stanley #45 to route out a groove that holds the plywood where the actual vent will mount in.
 

 

The compound angles were the most difficult part but having a sharp plane made it easier.
 

 

Here you can see the plywood inserted into the grooves and my makeshift bracing. I could not let my bracing interfere in the area where the vent will be.
 

 

Here is the hood after assembly and sanding.
 

 

And after the poly finish.
 

 
 

 

I still have to make the "chimney" portion to hide the duct that will go through the ceiling.

[samandothers]

Great work with the miter saw.  The final product look great!  Are there any code requirements related to how high the bottom needs to be above the cooktop?

[FalconFan]

Great work with the miter saw.  The final product look great!  Are there any code requirements related to how high the bottom needs to be above the cooktop?

No code but the manufacturer of the vent recommends 26"-30" above the cooking surface.

[Jeff]

Can't wait to see it in action! 

[21incher]

That is really nice. Will you line it with sheet metal to keep condensation from messing it up? 

[Chop Shop]

It is a beautiful work  of art.

But isn't that a good way to start/spread a kitchen fire?

[Jeff]

You mean like cabinets, paneling or drapes might?

[WLC]

WOW!!  Beautiful!  Looking forward to seeing the finished and installed version of this.

[tule peak timber]

Beautiful !!!!Are you going to put a liner in it ? Nice work 

 
   The liner will have the grease filters and blowers and be more fire resistant than bare wood. Cheers Rob

[69bronco]

That's about the purdiest poplar I've ever seen, good job!

[Bruno of NH]

Nice work

[FalconFan]

Nice work

Thank you! It is very satisfying creating something from wood that you mill yourself. I bought the mill because I wanted to get into wood working but wood, with the exception of construction grade lumber, is so expensive!

I do plan on using flashing to line the bottom, around the fan to make it easier to clean and less of a fire hazard but like others have pointed out, it is not uncommon to have wood cabinets directly above a range. The main factor in preventing fires, in my mind, is staying on top of grease build up.