Island Hoods
 

We're in the process of fitting a new kitchen and we've got our new
shiny induction hob on a peninsular. There is therefore no wall to
put an extractor fan on, so as part of the work we ran 110mm soil pipe
between the joists and have a hole coming down in the ceiling over the
hob position. I made sure there was lots of battens next to the hole
for hanging an island hood.

The hood is a Baumatic ISL5SS. Very good value, but that's about its
only redeeming point. It's not very well made, the instructions are
dire, some of the techniques in the method are daft (have you tried
screwing a poor quality self tapper into a too-small hole in 2mm steel
plate, with the hole 10mm from the ceiling?) Tip: self-tap the hole
BEFORE mouting the ceiling plate.

The instructions tell you how to calculate the length of angle iron
needed to hang down. All very simple stuff, except we discovered
while doing the building work our ceilings are only 230cm, so about
10cm short of normal.
To achieve the 75cm over the worktop that I want is impossible using
the method in the instructions.
Using the method in the instructions it would be just 45cm off the
worktop!

Using a different method of assembly, the highest I can get the thing
off the worktop is about 64cm which still seems too low to me.

The limiting factor is the stainless steel canopies that are 60cm long
and have to put on in two stages, making a stepped look. My other
half reckons the 2 stage canopy will look ugly, and I think she might
be right.

I've looked at others and none seem to go as short as I need, so I
can't even send it back and get something else.

I think my only solution is to drill holes in one canopy and just use
the one canopy. This way I can get about 70cm off the worktop AND I
wont get the 2 stage ugly step. If I need to go shorter I will need
to cut down the thin metal canopy, which is specialist since its
stainless steel.

Has anyone fitted this hood (or the Caple/Electrolux identical models)
and had problems?

Painters10

Island Hoods
 

Painters10 wrote:
If I need to go shorter I will need
to cut down the thin metal canopy, which is specialist since its
stainless steel.

No real ideas, but one comment. Cutting Stainless is no problem, no
special tools and you don't even need to worry about the cut edge
rusting. It's welding it that's hard...

Andy

Island Hoods
 

On 19/09/2008 22:54, Painters10 wrote:

I think my only solution is to drill holes in one canopy and just use
the one canopy.

I presume the two parts of the canopy just "telescope" one another?

This way I can get about 70cm off the worktop AND I
wont get the 2 stage ugly step. If I need to go shorter I will need
to cut down the thin metal canopy, which is specialist since its
stainless steel.

Had to cut down a Neff stainless steel one, just some tinsnips did the job.

Island Hoods
 

Andy Burns wrote:
On 19/09/2008 22:54, Painters10 wrote:

I think my only solution is to drill holes in one canopy and just use
the one canopy.

I presume the two parts of the canopy just "telescope" one another?

This way I can get about 70cm off the worktop AND I
wont get the 2 stage ugly step. If I need to go shorter I will need
to cut down the thin metal canopy, which is specialist since its
stainless steel.

Had to cut down a Neff stainless steel one, just some tinsnips did the job.

Don't you get an annoying rippling effect along the cut edge? I had this
on my cooker hood. Used a very good quality pair of snips. But each time
I had to move them along and start a new snip I would get a slight
ripple in the metal.

Island Hoods
 

"Rob Horton" wrote in message
...
Andy Burns wrote:
On 19/09/2008 22:54, Painters10 wrote:

I think my only solution is to drill holes in one canopy and just use
the one canopy.

I presume the two parts of the canopy just "telescope" one another?

This way I can get about 70cm off the worktop AND I
wont get the 2 stage ugly step. If I need to go shorter I will need
to cut down the thin metal canopy, which is specialist since its
stainless steel.

Had to cut down a Neff stainless steel one, just some tinsnips did the
job.

Don't you get an annoying rippling effect along the cut edge? I had this
on my cooker hood. Used a very good quality pair of snips. But each time I
had to move them along and start a new snip I would get a slight ripple in
the metal.

It's called deckle-edging and you pay extra for it ...

Mary

Island Hoods
 

"Rob Horton" wrote in message
...


Don't you get an annoying rippling effect along the cut edge? I had this
on my cooker hood. Used a very good quality pair of snips. But each time I
had to move them along and start a new snip I would get a slight ripple in
the metal.

Did you move on before you completely closed the snips?
You get the same effect with scissors on card if you close them all the way
before moving along.

Island Hoods
 

dennis@home wrote:


"Rob Horton" wrote in message
...


Don't you get an annoying rippling effect along the cut edge? I had
this on my cooker hood. Used a very good quality pair of snips. But
each time I had to move them along and start a new snip I would get a
slight ripple in the metal.

Did you move on before you completely closed the snips?
You get the same effect with scissors on card if you close them all the
way before moving along.



Yes, I did move on before completely closing the snips. Maybe next time
I will get one of these.

http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/W...Cutter_31.html

Island Hoods
 

"Rob Horton" wrote in message
...
dennis@home wrote:


"Rob Horton" wrote in message
...


Don't you get an annoying rippling effect along the cut edge? I had this
on my cooker hood. Used a very good quality pair of snips. But each time
I had to move them along and start a new snip I would get a slight
ripple in the metal.

Did you move on before you completely closed the snips?
You get the same effect with scissors on card if you close them all the
way before moving along.



Yes, I did move on before completely closing the snips. Maybe next time I
will get one of these.

http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/W...Cutter_31.html

You could cut some 1" wide strips from what's left.. fold them into a U
shape and attach them along the edges.
That will stiffen it, remove the sharp edges and probably look better.

Island Hoods
 

Painters10 wrote:

To achieve the 75cm over the worktop that I want is impossible using
the method in the instructions.
Using the method in the instructions it would be just 45cm off the
worktop!

I've looked at others and none seem to go as short as I need, so I
can't even send it back and get something else.

It seems odd to me that the minimum adjustment on the majority of
hoods is at best marginal above a gas hob, given modern ceiling
heights. As the innards of a hood do not seem to be particularly
densely packed, I am at a loss to understand why this is.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

Island Hoods
 

Rob Horton wrote:

[Cutting stainless steel]

Don't you get an annoying rippling effect along the cut edge?

Not if you use a nibbler to do the cutting. Either hire an electric one
from the hire shop or buy a hand nibbler. If going for a hand nibbler I
find the shear type is easier to use on sheet metal YMMV etc.

http://www.northerntooluk.com/produc...artno=1802461E

Island Hoods
 

Well I've made some progress on this. I must say I find it amazing
that the hood is just too long for modern ceilings and will not even
adjust to the minimum stated in the specs. But I'm stuck with it so...

We decided that the bare minimum length might be ok. This would be
using just one of the stainless canopy sections (the inner one).
This would mean no cutting of the canopy, but would require extra
holes drilled into the canopy to fit the ceiling mount plate.

To see if this would work I made a model. A piece of cardboard the
same size as the glass part of the hood, with some polystyrene blocks
cut to fit into the canopy. I hung the single canopy on the ceiling
bracket and then attached the blocks to the cardboard (double sided
carpet tape) and pushed this into the canopy. This effectively made
something the same size and position as the final hood.
We decided this would be OK. With our low ceiling it was worst case
71cm over the worktop.

Adding the extra holes to the stainless steel canopy was easy. For
the record, the process I used was:
Put masking tape onto canopy.
Mark with pen where the holes are to be.
Support the canopy between two workbenches so that the benches go
inside the canopy. Use an offcut of wood under the end to be
drilled.
Use a new sharp self tapping screw and a hammer to make a punch hole
(or a centre punch of course)
Use a brand new HSS 2mm drill bit in a variable speed drill and go
slowly.
Once the first hold is through I then used a 3.5mm bit, and then a
6mm bit to finish.

So now I have the hood with 4 angle irons sticking up and the canopy
over the top with new holes aligned to pass through the canopy,
through the angle irons and into the ceiling hanger. You obviously
can't get to the inside of the canopy when mounted, so I tapped the
holes in the ceiling hanger to be M5 threads.

Finally, to make it easier to get the canopy/angles over the edges of
the ceiling plate I have packed the internal gap between the canopy
and angle irons with offcuts of MDF.

The last problem to overcome is how to lift the 30Kg hood up to the
ceiling while aligning it, and putting in 8x M5 bolts. I think 2 big
mates is the answer.

Painters10