Mantle “Capper” Project Complete & Installed

[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! 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 and has been detailed through construction in another thread 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)