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DIY : vent hood for the kitcheen

Vent hood for the kitchen

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I've made my own vent hood to cover the brand new cooker we have bought ... last year (Yes, it took me more than one year to rebuilt all the kitcheen).

Like for every project, starting with CAD design.

Under view of the framework.

You can see in red a triangular stiffener. In fact there will be more than 20 of them regularly spaced.

And of course a nice moulding !

As the moulding is more than 2 meters wide, I couldn't find a way to make it in wood.

Finally, I decided to make it in "stucco", which is plaster build up directly in its final position. It's different from "staff" which is moulded in the workshop and once dried, cut and bonded on the walls and ceilings.

1. The framework

First, I've made a framework in plywood :

22mm thickness for the horizontal base and internal stiffener
10mm thickness for the other parts

Close view of the stiffeners which will also receive the plaster for the moulding.

The framework and its side panels

Close view of the 250 screws put here to ensure a good bonding of the plaster to the wood

2. Funny things start here...

Preparing the plaster. The lifetime of each batch is about 5 minutes, so only small quantities can be prepared at a time.

Another key of the success is to wet the wood before putting plaster on it. The wood must be saturated in order not to "pump" the water from the plaster during the drying (which would cause some cracking).

Putting plaster with the right tools...

Plaster alone is really very, very fragile. So, some centuries ago, people had already invented a composite material : this naturel fiber acts like the carbon or glass fiber, and the plaster is alike the matrix resin.

Between two passes, I scrape the plaster in excess with a tool.

This tool is the outline of the moulding cut by hand (I've no more access to any flatbed laser cutter) in a 1mm stainless steel sheet.

This sheet has been screwed on a wood as a usefull handgrip.

After one the the first passes, one can see the latent shape of the moulding.

Hard work !

Here one can see the two "rails" nailed on the base plate.

These rails are there to ensure a good positioning and sliding of the scrapper.

The hardest : to build the other side without breaking the edge of the first side...

In fact, I've not removed all the plaster in the angle where the two beams intersect. Then, I will "sandpaper" it when dry.

End of the game !

Now it's one O'clock in the night, I'm tired but satisfied and proud !

Last update : Thursday, May 01, 2008