Plastic,stainless or aluminum hood? Please advise!

[Maple Producer]

I am trying to make a steam hood for my 2x6 and was wondering the pros and cons of plastic versus stainless and aluminum. I just see 25$ a sheet for plastic 213 for aluminum and 500 for stainless Just curious if plastic will hold up and so forth (I would use 1\8 inch paneling from home depot)

[maple flats]

Plastic should hold up. I've seen hoods made out of everything from wood furring strip frame with poly sheet covering (4 or 6 mil), to aluminum sheet. Some made of rolled roof flashing, others made from sheets of aluminum gauge unknown, to ones made using SS. They all had 1 thing in common, they moved the steam up and out.
Which you choose depends on your budget, and some of it depends on your ability along with how long you expect to have the evaporator you are making it for. The choice is yours alone.

[Maple Producer]

Thank You! I really like aluminum and ss but I figured if plastic holds up then thats what I'll do!

[maple flats]

Just test a piece. Heat a teakettle, when the steam is shooting out the spout, hold the plastic close but not touching the spout. Be careful not to get burned. If after 3-4 minutes the plastic doesn't get soft of bend, you are good to go. Thew hood won't get hotter than that.
Back when I made my last aluminum hood, I made the gutters using 1x1x1 channel and I pop riveted it onto the bottom edge for the gutter. I mitered the corners (3 of them) and used aluminum rod to sort of braze it together. You can buy the rod at TSC. For the 4th corner I cut one side of the channel going across the end width, and it was 6-8" extra long. The channel that had to but to it was cut at 90. When I held them together I again "brazed them together, the butt end to where I had removed one side. I call it braze because that is sort of how you do it, but you are really welding it with a map gas torch, have the parts brushed real clean using a SS brush, then hold the parts together, and heat the parts being "welded" Once real hot, hold the aluminum rod in the flame and it will work a little like soldering except it does not draw in, you just melt the rod as you move it back and forth at the joint,. If done well, it looks like a pro did it, if not, just try to smooth it as much as you can. It just needs to hold together and not leak. Then on the "spout extending out. I mitered once again but this time I just added about a 2" long piece of the aluminum channel so it sloped down about 75-80 degrees. That gave it a definite spot to drip from. The first one I did like that liked to run condensation out to the end, then follow the underside back to the place where the spout exited the hood and then run down. I finally fixed that a little by crushing the channel, to give it a drip spout. On that I still needed to clamp a small piece of aluminum under the channel about 2' back from the end. Then the drops fell from there.

[CTguy923]

Maple Producer, i,m also in the same boat as you, i have a frame built and am looking for something to cover it with, would you happen to have a link to the plastic sheet you've found ??

[Maple Producer]

Very good! I will try plastic I Believe! Here is the link to what I found. It is 1/16th not 1/8th...... sorry but i will still try it for 20 dollars! https://www.homedepot.com/p/PLAS-TEX-1-16-in-x-48-in-x-96-in-White-Polywall-Plastic-Panel-10048615/311314398

[bmbmkr]

I am trying to make a steam hood for my 2x6 and was wondering the pros and cons of plastic versus stainless and aluminum. I just see 25$ a sheet for plastic 213 for aluminum and 500 for stainless Just curious if plastic will hold up and so forth (I would use 1\8 inch paneling from home depot)

It's been a couple years ago, but I was buying 4x8' sheet of 20 ga 304 mill finish from Dillon Supply for $104. If you order a sheet online you are goin to pay 5x as much. A guy on the Ohio Maple facebook maple page just told about locally purchasing (Zanesville, OH) 4x10 sheets of 22ga mirror finish for $120. I just about finished my hood last night, the gutters are 20 ga, the hood 24ga and the ends of the hood & drip pan under the stack are 28 ga. All SS that I purchased locally or used, I got 2 4x10 sheets of 28 ga from a closed restaurant near Jackson, they were goin to use them for back splash in the kitchen but never got used & were in a closet. I gave the guy $40 for 2 sheets. I made a 10' long 8" steam stack out of one yesterday, I have $30 in it, $20 for the sheet & $10 worth of SS rivets. I have about $60 in the hood= $40 for the sheet of 24ga- from craigslist, and a hundred #8 Machine screws & nuts. Where are you in SE OH? Lawrence county here. I have a few sheets of 4x10' aluminum, it's .01" thick, can't remember the alloy, but they need polished, they have oxidized pretty bad, I've had em for about 10 years. I'd let one go pretty reasonable.21796

[Maple Producer]

bmbmkr I sent you a pm! thanks!