Hi sayde! I'm glad you like my bohemouth. : )

I actually copied my hood from a picture I found on the internet. I went to a metal fabricating shop (if you are around the DC area, I can provide you with specific contact info) with my internet picture and scaled drawings that I had done on the computer of exactly the shape I was looking for.

The finish is powder coated steel. The metal shop gave me about 8 little samples of powdercoat options which I took home and played with. I was looking for a finish the didn't show grease splatters and smudges, and that cleaned up easily without picking up lint from whatever I was using to clean it. I believe the metal shop sent it out and had a different company do the powdercoating.

The metal shop fabricated the innards of the hood to the specifications of the hood insert I had purchased, so I think you need to pick out your insert first. Ours is Viking, but its sucking power has been a bit of a disappointment to me. Our contractors did the installation, but I believe we could have had the metal shop do that as well.

I hope I've answered your questions...if you need any more info, I'm happy to help. Also, if I can find them, I can email my computer sketches to you if you like. Our ceilings are 9 feet, so if yours are too they could be helpful. Just let me know.

Hi Arlosmom

Thanks so much for the information. The finish on your hood is so appealing because it is nice and matte. I didn't realize that you could get a painted finish like that. I really love it! We are in upstate New York so I will look for a metal fabricator up here. My ceilings are lower than yours and I have been doing lots of drawing both on paper and on the wall to figure out the appropriate dimensions -- but yours has the shape and design/color that I would like.

Thanks so much -- I appreciate it! Love your tile over the range too -- everything looks so comfortable and so authentic.

Sayde, I tried to take a photo of the finish so you could see it close-up, but it was hard to capture accurately. Here is my best attempt...this photo is with flash and makes the color look darker and shinier than it is, but it gives you a good idea of the grainy texture (it feels like medium-grit sandpaper made from paint or plastic):

The photos I posted of my finished kitchen are closer to the actual color:

Sorry to break into this dialogue, arlosmom, but I am in DC and I already have my insert. My plan was to have a carpenter copy a wooden hood design I like to fit the insert, but the idea of a simple but curvy metal hood is pretty alluring.

So, if you could provide contact info for your metal fabricator, I would be most grateful.

Thanks and cheers.

hi honorbiltkit! We had our hood made about two years ago, and we used:

A K Metal Fabricators Inc
4401 Wheeler Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22304-6434
(703) 823-1661

I'm attaching a link to their website.

Here is a link that might be useful: ak metal fabricators

Just wanted to chime in to say I love that hood!

Thanks, arlosmom.

What wonderful things they craft -- well beyond anything I had associated with sheet metal. Now my simple curvy hood concept has evolved to include a bas relief map of Laguna di Venezia, three fleurs de lis, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Thanks again.

It's such an awesome hood: So classic and simple. It's like that perfect black dress that goes with everything, and never goes out of style.

And if you ever decide to replace the current (wonderful!) stove with your dream vintage range, the hood will be perfect!

;-)

francy

thanks antiquesilver. : )

bayareafrancy, did you say that because you saw my comment in the vintage stove post the other day? I think this hood would definitely have looked good with the old tappan deluxe. sigh.

honorbiltkit, I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Yep!

:-)

f

Arlosmom, do you recall what paint color and type of paint was used? It seems to have a wonderful gunmetal grey quality. I was interested in blackened steel but I have been reading that this can be a temperamental finish as blackened steel is a kind of black oxide rust-- and it could possible continue to rust, only red, if not finished and treated correctly. Powder coat seems like a more reliable problem free kind of finish. Would appreciate any information . . . .

Sayde, I pulled the shop drawings for the hood from my files in the attic. Here's what is noted on the drawings: powder coated Prismatic (P) Pewter Glitter PTB2309 Texture. They don't specify a manufacturer, but in noodling around on google, I think the manufacturer is probably NIC Industries. NIC makes powder coats and has a color by that name.

So far, it's been completely problem-free. I've scrubbed it a number of times and it looks like it did on day one.

Arlosmom, thank you so much! With that information I should be able to get your wonderful color no matter who actually makes the hood. I really appreciate your going to the trouble of locating your drawings and letting me know what paint was used. Thank you!!!