I sure do like the ideas already. Do a search on the first forum page for mgs by "Kirkus" as he has made some fantastic trellis out of tree branches, etc. The idea for using them for Christmas and holding decorations is great also. Either paint them or wrap red fabric strips around them to look like candycanes and then top with the star, gift boxes or snowflakes. I think those would look really cute. Or use them to hold faux pumpkins. I've been saving this pic for an idea. The pole in the pic is a porch or stair spindle. You could paint your poles orange and black and other bright halloween colors, nail on a wood top base to glue the pumpkin to and then stream down some colorful raffia with stars or moons attached to the bottom of the raffia or even hang down some fall leaf garland . These would swing in the wind and I think look really cute for the holidays.

In principle, you could extend it to achieve a collection aperture big enough for your range. This would require the basic unit to be rather high and the baffles somewhat harder to reach for cleaning. The angle of the extension pieces must be sufficiently close to vertical that effluent reflects upward when impinging on the extension. This makes the collecting aperture of the liner rather high, and the overall assembly rather large. Cabinetry may help obscure this. Whether 1200 cfm (at zero static pressure drop that you won't achieve) is adequate depends on many factors, but it might be risky because with a large aperture, the velocity of the air at the aperture might be relatively low and not helpful for containing the effluent. On the other hand, as the effluent rises and narrows in the hood, when it reaches the baffles the air velocity will be higher and perhaps adequate. I would be concerned that with significant cooking ongoing, rising effluent from multiple sources would not be contained, as may be seen in published Schlieren photographs of commercial units pulling insufficient cfm. Conceivably, a second helper fan inline with the ducting or mounted to the roof could be used to boost flow. Methods of control of both fans would need to be considered. Your trade-off here is avoiding the loss of the liner purchase price and committing to a lot of time to ensure a bastardized design will work, along with a lot of additional cost for parts and welding, versus just buying the right assembly and possibly reselling the unneeded liner. The liner capture area should extend beyond the cooking zone such that rising and expanding effluent intercepts the aperture and not the area outside the aperture where it will not be captured. A 66 to 72 inch liner will be needed. In any case, don't forget the need for make-up air. kas

My husband had an old table in his workroom. We bought a big sheet of something in the plywood section at Lowe's (I'm saying "something" because I don't know what it is). It is not plywood, but looks the same size as a sheet of plywood. It has a very smooth surface, maybe some type of drywall, backerboard, or maybe masonite....not sure. It is a light gray in color and is about 5/8-3/4" thick. I had some wide 2" tape (like electrical tape) which I put all around the edges so the fabric would not get caught. We placed that sheet on the work table and attached it with screws from the underside. This post was edited by donnas on Tue, Jul 22, 14 at 11:22

I know a local craftsman here in TX who makes a square table -- they had it in the showroom when we went to look for round. All handmade and closer to $3000. His styles are traditional early Texas, not contemporary, but you might be able to chose a simpler style and lighter finish or customize. Not sure if you would want to work long distance or if shipping can be worked out. The tables are gorgeous though. Let me know if you want the name. Also, check out CustomMade -- a website where you can search for the kind of item you want and limit to artisans in your area. Saw furniture there in a wide, wide range of prices -- some several times your budget, but most I saw were considerably less than $10,000.