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.
