Thursday, January 1, 2009

Fireplace Mantle

Ohh my god I'm ready to be done with this house......But I digress.  

The rock work looks so good up there but a fireplace just isn't complete without a Mantle.  I made this mantle from one of the leftover logs.  It's Ponderosa pine and it has a bit of rustic detail to it.  

I had to rip the log in half, chisel off the tongue's, draw-knife the imperfections, and then sand forever.  Once I had it sanded down to about where I liked it, I switched to finer and finer grits until it was really nice and smooth.  Then it was time for the poly-acrylic stain/sealer.  It took 4 coats (sanding between coats with 320 grit) to make it look this nice.  

The mantle is held up by two "Corribles" that were just two pieces of firewood I drug off the woodpile and gave the same treatment.   I'd like to think that it turned out pretty good.  

All that is left is trim, hearthstone, and a light fixture.