Cherry mantle ideas...

[bob]

After seeing the job I did on my kitchen, some friends asked if I could make a cherry mantle for their gas fireplace. They live in a rather modern condo, and just want something incredibly simple, ie. a nice hunk o' cherry, approx

4 x 5 x 48 or so. No detailing, no surround, just a nice smooth piece of wood. I'll probably French cleat it to the wall, but I'm thinking a solid chuck of cherry that big is just too heavy and a bit of a waste of wood. Problem is, every way I try to visualize a hollow box, I just see to many visible joints, which if well done would look nice to me, but I don't think that's what they have in mind.

Does anything spring to mind?

Thanks, Bob

Photos:

[Swingman]

"bob" wrote

IIRC, and just this past weekend I saw a book by Jim Tolpin on built-in furniture that had pictures and a section that included mantle ideas/plans for what you are describing. (Here's a DAGS):

want to check your library or local Borders/Barnes and Nobles and just take a look through the book.

... may be worth checking out.

[dpb]

Resaw and them make a torsion box -- w/ nearly perfect matching grain, glue joints would essentially disappear...

If you want to keep the illusion complete, use endgrain sections for the end pieces too...

--

[VibraJet]

I recently did a similar mantle using hickory.

The mantle was hollow, as you describe, and was assembled using what we = used to call "tape joints".

The mantle consists of 5 pieces: top, bottom, front, and sides. Every = exposed edge has a miter joint - 8 joints in all. The pieces are then = assembled flat, face up, with heavy clear shipping tape: each joint is = first positioned with tape pieces across the joint, then with one long = piece along the joint. After testing the fit & making any neccessary = adjustments, the taped pieces are layed on the bench face down, glue is = applied in the miters, then the whole thing is folded together and taped = into position until the glue dries. Voila - a hollow beam with no = visible joinery.

If you cut a nailer that is a snug fit ino the back of your hollow = mantle beam, you can then attach the nailer to the wall, slide your = mantle onto the nailer, tack it into place with a couple of brads, fill = the brad holes with wax filler stick. - Very easy installation.

--=20 Timothy Juvenal

[skeez]

I've done a few for a contractor friend lately. Simply two slabs of cherry and a slab of maple. cherry top and bottom maple in the middle with a 1" offset for detail. i make the maple piece 2" shorter and 1" narrower then rip 2 inches out of the back on the bandsaw leaving the ends at full width. the 2" ripout is mounted to the wall and the mantle slides over it to give the illusion of a floating mantle. a couple of trim screws up through the bottom are used to keep it from being pulled off the wall. you may also glue it but then you wont be able to take it down if the need arrises. i use lags to attach the mounting strip.

skeez

[bridgerfafc]

how about making the whole thing with bent laminations? does their home feature any curves- if so steal the detail and lay up a hollow box with alternating layers of say cherry and walnut.

'course, the whole job just got a bunch more complicated....

[J T]

Wed, Dec 5, 2007, 12:56pm [e-mail] (bob) doth wondereth: Does anything spring to mind?

Cherry plywood, make a box. Cheery veneer, on a plywood box. Cherry stain on poplar or pine. Tell them to get someone else to do it.

I used a piece of 2X12 pine, stained with I don't know what. Still looking good, 20 some years later.

JOAT Even Popeye didn't eat his spinach until he had to.

[SonomaProducts.com]