I was offered a commission to build a small fire place mantle. The millwork in the room had been done by another woodworker so I was limited to the style and material. Fortunately the furniture was all done in walnut in a simple style with nice clean lines.
After the initial sight survey I found some material that would match the rest of the furniture. I decided to secure the mantle to the wall using threaded rod so I cut a strip of MDF to mark the holes in the wall and then duplicate those holes in the back of the mantle.
The mantle after gluing up. The MDF strip is shown behind.
I found a nice design to carve into the front edge of the mantle. I wanted to add some decoration to the mantle without clashing with the other furniture pieces. I excavated around the carving with a router.
The completed piece resting on two of the three threaded rods which would eventually tie the mantle to the wall. I used this set-up to allow me to finish all of the unit at one time. The underside of the mantle was eventually lined with a heat resistant material.
Here is a closer look at the finished carving.
