Curved Range Hood for a Beautiful Kitchen Remodel

Since last time we invited you into our Tullahoma cabinet shop, we have started several new exciting jobs and we would like to share one of the really neat projects we are working on.  Almost everyone loves a beautiful range hood, and adding reclaimed wood to one is a surefire way to make a statement in you modern farmhouse kitchen remodel.  Throw in a curve or two for aesthetics and now you are really speaking my language.  Here is a picture of a farmhouse range hood without the curve we built earlier this year. 

*Spoiler Alert - This is a sneak peak photo of a custom farmhouse kitchen we will be revealing on our blog very soon! 

The range hood we are building this week is a European or Tuscan style hood with an inward curve.  Our goal is to make one that looks kind of like this one (Left) but with reclaimed wood. Building the frame can be kind of tricky when you are going to paint one, but building one out of reclaimed wood (which is often quite contrary to work with) turned out to be an interesting challenge. 

Steps To Construct the Farmhouse Range Hood

First we needed to design the hood around the specifications for our ventilator and decide on the pattern shape of the curve.  We tried a few different shapes before finally settling on one.  After making the pattern we used it to cutout all the parts for the frame of the hood. After assembling the frame, we were ready for what we call the 'backing.'  This is just inexpensive 3/16" birch plywood with a bunch of saw kerfs ripped in the back so it can be bent to fit the shape of the curve without breaking. (Right)  We cut pieces of this a little large so we could tack it in place on the sides of the hood and then use a scribe to trace the curve of the front of the frame onto the back of the backing.  

After we had the entire frame built, we spray painted it black so that any holes in the reclaimed wood wouldn't become eyesores.  Then we began laminating the strips of reclaimed wood we had machined onto the frame one at a time. (Left)  When we got to the curves, we would simply trace the curve, cut it on the band saw, then laminate it in place.  This was a tedious but rewarding process.  After all the strips we laminated, we added the crown molding and the decorative skirt to hide the actual ventilator, and...