Solid Cherry Wood Fireplace Mantle

[jzawacki]

Hi, I'm new to FOG and I'm an amateur wood worker. I'm in the process of building a woodworking shop and fitting it out with Festool tools.

A friend of mine gave me a nice piece of solid cherry wood that he had leftover from a fireplace mantle project he did. The piece of cherry I have is ~ 6' long, 10" wide and 5" tall. My wife and I have a small cottage with a wood burning fireplace with a cultured stone front. My plan is to use this piece of cherry I got to build a mantle for our cottage fireplace.

The question that I have is how best to mount this solid piece of cherry to the face of the cultured stone. The area over the fireplace where I would like to mount the mantle is pretty flat stone so rather than try to cut the stone out and recess the mantle into the stone, I think I can route the rear edge of the solid cherry to fit the contour of the stone. The question is, what options do I have to mount the mantle to the stone with little or no visable signs of steel angle iron brackets or similar hardware showing?

The previous owner who had the fireplace built took pictures of the rough framing done of the fireplace before the cultured stone was put up so I have a pretty good idea of the the wall studs are located. With that said, I am looking for some ideas that would allow me to mount the mantle so that the mounting hardware  is hidden yet be strong enough to hold the weight of this solid piece of cherry.

Thanks,

John Z.

 

[danrush]

John,

Welcome.  I've needed to install reclaimed beams to stone walls a couple of times, scribing the beam to the wall.  Here's what I've done:

After finding the wall studs, drive 1/2" +/- lag screws into each stud that will be behind the mantle, allowing at least 6" or more to set out proud of the wall.  Once the lags are driven, cut off the heads, leaving a 1/2" stud bolt protruding from the wall. 

Transfer the stud locations to your mantle and bore holes appropriate for the lags you choose. 

The beam will now slide into the wall on the studs, allowing you to mark as needed and remove and replace the beam with little effort to scribe as many times as it takes for a good fit.

When you are finished scribing, a small dab of glue in each hole should be sufficient to hold the mantle in place.

Dan

 

[jzawacki]

Dan,

Thanks for the information. I was thinking of using large lag screws just as you mentioned but was hoping someone would confirm that that would work and or would be a good idea. Again, I appreciate the information. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Best regards,

John

 

[danrush]

John, one other step I forgot about.  On a beam that large, it may pay to hog out or mortise the back of the beam the thickness of the most protruding stone on the wall, leaving just a 1/2" or so full depth frame around the perimeter of the slab.  This should make scribing go much easier. 

Hope this makes sense, Dan

 

[jzawacki]

Dan,

That makes sense. No need to have the entire back solid wood plus like you said having a narrower edge all around will make scribing it to the stone way easier.

Thanks,

John

 

[GreenGA]

If it were me, and the idea had structural merit, I would consider using a French cleat.

It would require hogging out material from the rear of the cherry slab at the appropriate angle, and correctly mounting the mating cleat to the fireplace through the face of the cultured stone.  But, if measured and cut correctly, that slab of cherry could wind up looking like it's floating in air just off the face of the cultured stone.  Another benefit would be that you could easily remove and reinstall it if ever became necessary.

JMTC.

 

[jzawacki]

Thanks for all the input. I got the mantel hung and it came out great!!

 

[danrush]

Nice. 

 

[jzawacki]

Now complete with a danish oil finish!!!!