Mantle “Capper” Project Complete & Installed

[Jim Becker]

The Mantle Capper Project that originally began as a thread in the Design Forum (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=14696)and has been detailed through construction in another thread (http://http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17645)is now complete and installed...at least it's placed on the fireplace with a little minor adjustment and support to be done before it's fixed permanently in place.

This was a pleasing project as it offered the opportunity to once again do the "hand cut dovetail thing" as well as work on something large in scale. Everything about the 22' x 25" great room room is big...the fireplace, the space (the cross beams are 12' off the floor), etc., so this mantle cap/top follows suite. It's 104" wide and 20.5" deep. The apron is about 6" high and the top is 2 3/8" "thick".

I normally don't do anything to cherry to affect the color other than oil and garnet shellac, but because there is very little natural light that will fall on this piece, I used some WB dye (left over from the armoire project) to "age" the wood a little. From there the finish was a liberal application of BLO followed by one application of Tried & True oil/beeswax and a final finish coat of Mylands beeswax. The finish is silky smooth and picks up both the color of the wide, "pumpkin pine" flooring and the new lights that hang down over the dining table. (Those were also installed today...)

Overall, I'm pleased with this project. Would I do anything different? I probably would have used something more inexpensive for the "field" of the top than the $83 piece of cherry veneered MDF core since the top is only visible from the loft/library, but otherwise, I'd not change any techniques.

On to the next project...whatever that turns out to be! (And yes, those horribly designed barnwood cabinets and shelves on either side of the fireplace will go away someday...it's on the project list)

[Dave Falkenstein]

Good job, Jim. Did you use your Festools for that project? Smile.

[mike malone]

nice job JB. I see you were astute enough to suit its' mass to the size of the room...and BTW nice room!!
best/mike

[Jim Becker]

Did you use your Festools for that project?
Oh, yes...as follows:

1) MFT and plunge saw to crosscut cherry veneer MDF core sheet goods for field
2) OF 1010 router and guide rail to cut the slot for the inlay between the two panels that make up the "field" to hide the joint
3) 300 EQ jigsaw for waste removal during dovetail work
4) 150/3 sander for...sanding
5) Rotex with buffing pad to polish the wax
6) TDK drill/driver to screw apron to top assembly
7) CT22 for dust collection with all of the above except the drill/driver for obvious reasons and the Rotex since it was just buffing. The CT22 was also used with my biscuit cutter

[Ray Bersch]

Looks great, Jim, and it seems you tamed that cherry pretty good.

You know, when you mentioned the other day that "you can only see it from the loft" I meant to mention to you about the large book case I finished just before the holidays. It is installed in our living room that has a cathedral ceiling. Crown molding trims the top of the case, but I miscalculated the width of the cap needed for the top of the crown - it was all clear oak so I just installed oak supports to carry the cap because "you can only see it from our balcony and when comming down the stairs." Well, I can see the ding dong this EVERY SINGLE TIME I go down those stairs and it irks me to no end - sooo, you done good and now it won't bother you several times a day.


Good job.
Ray

[Mark Singer]

Jim,
Beautiful job!!! It fits nicely with the fire place. The wood really works well in the room. I think it is great to see a project go from design through construction to a final piece....Excellent!

[Jim Becker]

Thanks, Ray. As you can see, the overlaps on the dye worked themselves out--you got to see it "in the raw" on Friday when you made your visit. As to the "good material" on the top...the shame of it is that you can't see the beautiful figure in the veneer from so far away. That's my real reason for "regret" in using that particular sheet stock for the field...you just can't enjoy it unless you use binoculars! (Or a long lense...)

Mark, it did work out nicely. It's "rustic" enough to mate with the room and refined enough to satisfy my tastes and desire to add a little "modern" to the room. The new lights over the dining table are working nicely in that regard...I'll post pics of them in the "Weekend Doings" thread this week.

[Ray Bersch]

...you just can't enjoy it unless you use binoculars! (Or a long lense...)or are a few years younger ;)

[Jim Becker]

or are a few years younger No dice. Since my LASIK surgery two years ago, I have 20/15 in my right eye and 20/20 in the left and still can't really enjoy the figure from that far away! I'll take a photo tomorrow when there is light with my long lense so folks can appreciate the nice figure on the top. This is the same sheet goods that my friend Russ is using for his kitchen cabinets that I posted an example of awhile back in the Design Forum (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=15044). Awesome stuff. (Unfortunately, he's stalled on that project because all of a sudden, a ton of paying work came in...)

[Ray Bersch]

The wood figure your talking about, right?With that, I'll sign off for the night .....

[Mike Vermeil]

Nice work Jim. Fits the house really well. By the way, what type of house do you live in? An old timber frame house? Converted post & beam barn? It's been a while since I've been to PA. How far are you from Coatsville? Darn pretty country out there.

[Jim Becker]

By the way, what type of house do you live in? An old timber frame house? Converted post & beam barn? It's been a while since I've been to PA. How far are you from Coatsville? Mike, our home is essentially in three sections. The oldest part is about mid-1700s and is made of limestone...walls are 24-18" thick. (Base to top) That area houses my office, the TV room, Dr. SWMBO's office (a BR) and the guest room. The middle section is 1950s based on the balloon frame construction, but modern dimension lumber. The kitchen and current MBR/bath is in this section. The newest section (the great room in this thread) was build in the 1980s...and is the worst build part of the house. The two large 8" x 8" cross beams are structural, but all the rest of the "barn beams" are purely cosmetic. In fact, they are merely applied to the structure as decoration and even have joints in places that don't make sense. The look is grand until you get to the details. The previous owners designed the room, but were not "highly skilled" in choosing contractors...my shop building, however, was built really well!! :D

With any luck (and maybe a visit from the Prize Patrol... ;) ) we'll be adding an addition off the back to add about 1500 sq ft of living space including a master suite, laundry, solarium and guest room. The present structure is only 1900 sq ft, one full bath and three bedrooms which is ultimately too little for when our kids join the family. (We're adopting siblings from Russia)

We are about an hour and a half east and north of Coatsville. If you look on a map and pick out Doylestown...we are in the Buckingham area just north and east of there.

[Corey Hallagan]

Very nice Jim and a beautiful room.... sounds like a beautiful home for that matter.

Corey

[John Miliunas]

Looks great, Jim! You're right about everything being pretty massive in there! Well, you got that capper zoned right into the proportions of the room! Nice job and thanks for the triage along the way!:) :cool:

[Jason Tuinstra]

On to the next project...whatever that turns out to be!

Jim, are we to gleen a hint about your next project from your wording? :D

Seriously, nice job on this one. I've made many pieces that sit in other peoples homes never to be stared at by me again. :( It's nice to have something close to home... or I guess in this case, a part of the home. Way to go!

[Jerry Olexa]

Jim, reading your description of your home makes it sounds interesting and appropiate to the Bucks County area. I see lots of authentic history and character in your home and your project adapts well to it! You have stories to tell about the different sections of your home. We've moved 8 times in our corporate lives and generally gave in to "newer" homes. Less maintenance but usually a bit predictable. As always, great job by you. I envy the charm/history of your home! (We Penn Staters are not so dumb!):) :D

[Rich Konopka]

Nice Job Jim and congrats on the adoptions. Once the kids show up your time in the shop will diminish.:(

However, it is well worth it!!

[Frank Pellow]

The mantle top really fits in well Jim. And, as usual, it reflects well on your good design and workmanship.

But, whats all this you snuck in about needing more space becuase you are adopting siblings from Russia?

[Jim Becker]

But, whats all this you snuck in about needing more space becuase you are adopting siblings from Russia?No sneaking, Frank...I've mentioned it a number of times in the past couple months. You can learn more at http://a-j-adopt.blogspot.com (http://a-j-adopt.blogspot.com/) .


Jim, are we to gleen a hint about your next project from your wording?
Jason, I actually really do need to do some of that spinny thing...it's been far too long. I actually put something on the machine two weeks ago to start and just never got to it. Bin Pho is the demonstrator at tonights Bucks Woodturners meeting, so that should put me in the mood to get back in the, umm...swing...of things.


Jim, reading your description of your home makes it sounds interesting and appropriate to the Bucks County area.It's interesting, Jerry, that the stone work on the oldest part of our home was done by a particular mason that did a lot of work in the area in the mid-1700s. A young lady stopped by here a few years ago to inquire about getting a few pieces of stone from the walls in our woods as she and her husband were renovating their own home just up the street. She had been doing a bunch of research, actually knew the name of the mason and the characteristics of his work and even pointed out some interesting things about our building that we hadn't noticed before. There is a private golf club across the street whose club house is a 1700s era stone structure done by the same mason...they fondly like to say they have the oldest clubhouse in the nation!

Our property was originally part of a land grand made by William Penn to a family named Paxton. This was apparently a huge grant! The last remaining Paxton (that I know of) died a few years ago and the remaining properties sold for an aggregate of about $7 million...and fortunately it is all preserved and cannot be developed. (It remains used largely for horse farming and nursery stock) There are some outstanding structures on those properties!

[Frank Pellow]

No sneaking, Frank...I've mentioned it a number of times in the past couple months. You can learn more at http://a-j-adopt.blogspot.com (http://a-j-adopt.blogspot.com/) .

Thanks for the pointer Jim. I don't know why I missed the previous references. I do remember you saying something about trying to learn Russian, but that's all.

I read everything at the referenced spot and will now check in from time to time to see how things are going. For Margaret and I, having children was the thing that changed our lives the most (even more than marriage) and 95% of that change was for the better. I wish you and Alison, and your (future) children all the best!

[Martin Shupe]

Very nicely done, Jim. It looks great and adds to the fireplace.

[Ted Shrader]

Jim -

Very nice. It fits well with the motif? of the stone surround. The hand cut dovetails are big and rugged, yet elegabt enough to have that original feel.

Well done,
Ted

[Alan Mikkelsen]

Jim, great work, wonderful house. What a sense of History. There wasn't even a European structure in Montana in the 1700's!

[Dan Forman]

Looks grand! The doveltails are a nice feature.

Dan

[Darren Ford]

Jim, about 6 years ago, some friends of mine with 3 kids already, decided to adopt from Russia. As the process went on, they became aware of sibling girls who were available for adoption. Afraid the two would be split up, they decided if they were planning on 4, whats one more. My friends went to the doctor for checkups and shots before they went to Russia to pick up the girls, at which time found out they were expecting another. So within a few months they added 3 new kids to the family.

Those little girls were about 6 and 3, and within just a few months they were speaking English almost as well as their peers. I believe it was mid or late spring when they came to the states, and the next term were in school along with my kids.

I'm saying this because you probably won't ever learn any Russian once you get them. They will be speaking English so fast that you won't have a chance.

One other interesting note, after the girls had been with them for quite a few months, I'm thinking 8 or 9, another friend, of Russian descent, visited and tried to speak to the girls in their native language. He basically got out a couple of words when the girls freaked out, began screaming and ran. It took awhile to get them calmed down. This was something that was a total shock to the adults who thought the girls would enjoy it.

[Jim Becker]

I'm saying this because you probably won't ever learn any Russian once you get them. They will be speaking English so fast that you won't have a chance.
We are actually leaning some Russian to both provide for easier interaction when the kids are here for two and a half weeks in the summer hosting program as well as being respectful for folks when we are traveling in their country later on to complete the adoption process. It is a difficult language to learn...there are many sounds that just don't exist in "our" latin-based language, there is what I'll call "sound abreviation" when speaking in phrases and sentence structure, including gender references, are often applied in interesting ways.

It's very true that the kids, once settled here, will pick up English quickly and lose their Russian. The only way they generally can retain it is if they live in a home that speaks the language regularly and consistantly.

But this is a subject for a different place! Thanks for sharing your friend's story...it sounds like they have a wonderful family. We hope we will be just as lucky, but know we will be no matter what.

[Jerry Olexa]

Jim, In my zeal to comment on the interesting nature and character of your home and area, I forgot to mention how much I liked the mantel project itself. I especially like the handcut dovetails (to me a sign of craftmanship). Great results!

[Gene Collison]

Jim,

Nice job! I have a similar project to do when I get time.

Gene

[Steve Inniss]

Jim,
Nice design and execution. Looks great in the room - I'm sure even more so in person.
You'll have to, as part of every tour, go up to the loft and have folks admire the 83 buck piece of plywood. -Steve

[Jim Becker]

Steve, the "50 cent tour" always takes the back stairs up and the loft/library down, so that the gread room is spread out in front of the "tour-ee" for effect... :D :D :D

[Scott Lemmers]

Jim,

Great looking room!! Your project really fits the look.
Are the cabinets next to the fireplace original? They almost look like some old barn wood that I have.
My new place is a 1865 farm house with two old large barns. One is a two story that is going to be repaired to house my shop and other things and the second will probibly be taken down to fix the first one and to use the wood for projects.
Once again great job!!

[Jim Becker]

Are the cabinets next to the fireplace original? They almost look like some old barn wood that I have.
My new place is a 1865 farm house with two old large barns. One is a two story that is going to be repaired to house my shop and other things and the second will probibly be taken down to fix the first one and to use the wood for projects.
Once again great job!!

The cabinets are original in the sense that the previous owner had them built as part of their "original" design for the room when they added it in the 1980s. They are also fully constructed out of old barn wood...which is why they look like old barn wood! :D Honestly, we don't like them and they are very poorly built and designed. They are destined to be replaced with some form of storage that is more functional and easier to keep clean. The barnwood wainscot is more than sufficent for the look in the space, so something more refined...and that matches the new mantle cap...will be the future solution for storage needs. We just haven't decided whether it will be something free-standing or built-in.

Thanks for your kind comment on the mantle cap. It was a rewarding project in many ways.

[Boyd Gathwright]

Hi Jim,

.... That's a nice looking mantle, large, but very nice looking. When I was a kid I lived in a stone house with a slate roof that was built by the slaves. There was a large fireplace but not as large as yours. If I recall correctly there was a stone mantle all the way across. It had iron hinges on the side of the fireplace so you could swing a large cooking pot in or out. The colors you have chosen for your mantle stand out very well.

A job well done, got that Early American feel to it :).


Boyd
.

The Mantle Capper Project that originally began as a thread in the Design Forum (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=14696)and has been detailed through construction in another thread (http://http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17645)is now complete and installed...at least it's placed on the fireplace with a little minor adjustment and support to be done before it's fixed permanently in place.

This was a pleasing project as it offered the opportunity to once again do the "hand cut dovetail thing" as well as work on something large in scale. Everything about the 22' x 25" great room room is big...the fireplace, the space (the cross beams are 12' off the floor), etc., so this mantle cap/top follows suite. It's 104" wide and 20.5" deep. The apron is about 6" high and the top is 2 3/8" "thick".

I normally don't do anything to cherry to affect the color other than oil and garnet shellac, but because there is very little natural light that will fall on this piece, I used some WB dye (left over from the armoire project) to "age" the wood a little. From there the finish was a liberal application of BLO followed by one application of Tried & True oil/beeswax and a final finish coat of Mylands beeswax. The finish is silky smooth and picks up both the color of the wide, "pumpkin pine" flooring and the new lights that hang down over the dining table. (Those were also installed today...)

Overall, I'm pleased with this project. Would I do anything different? I probably would have used something more inexpensive for the "field" of the top than the $83 piece of cherry veneered MDF core since the top is only visible from the loft/library, but otherwise, I'd not change any techniques.

On to the next project...whatever that turns out to be! (And yes, those horribly designed barnwood cabinets and shelves on either side of the fireplace will go away someday...it's on the project list)