Hi all,
This took much longer than planned -- just like all my other projects. But, am quite happy with the way it turned out. This is black walnut with Watco Danish Oil, shellac, and four layers of varnish. It is 9'4" long and 1' deep. It has four storage areas and outlets installed in the two just to the left and right of the firebox. I have brass grommets so I can run lamps to the mantle if we ever want to. The compartments right above the firebox do get hot -- but not so hot that I can't hold my hand to the wood. The new stonework sags about 5/8" in the middle -- so I routed a pattern of the stone so that the mantle could form fit over the stone and hide the sag. The front and back are dovetailed to the sides. Between each of the four compartments I have a divider that uses a sliding dovetail with the idea that this will provide the necessary support. I have four 3" 1/2" lag bolts that hold the mantle to the wall.
I also build a small shelf in the same style as the mantle that sits right under my TV for the center channel speaker for my home theater. For this, I put a drawer in instead of a hinged top. Next task is create a 3' x 4' black walnut frame to hold a ceramic Italian mural.
Also, as with my projects, I started out with what I thought to be a good SketchUp file... but had to iterate through three revisions which I didn't get back into the design file. If anyone would like a copy, just let me know.
This took much longer than planned -- just like all my other projects. But, am quite happy with the way it turned out. This is black walnut with Watco Danish Oil, shellac, and four layers of varnish. It is 9'4" long and 1' deep. It has four storage areas and outlets installed in the two just to the left and right of the firebox. I have brass grommets so I can run lamps to the mantle if we ever want to. The compartments right above the firebox do get hot -- but not so hot that I can't hold my hand to the wood. The new stonework sags about 5/8" in the middle -- so I routed a pattern of the stone so that the mantle could form fit over the stone and hide the sag. The front and back are dovetailed to the sides. Between each of the four compartments I have a divider that uses a sliding dovetail with the idea that this will provide the necessary support. I have four 3" 1/2" lag bolts that hold the mantle to the wall.
I also build a small shelf in the same style as the mantle that sits right under my TV for the center channel speaker for my home theater. For this, I put a drawer in instead of a hinged top. Next task is create a 3' x 4' black walnut frame to hold a ceramic Italian mural.
Also, as with my projects, I started out with what I thought to be a good SketchUp file... but had to iterate through three revisions which I didn't get back into the design file. If anyone would like a copy, just let me know.
