Project Information
Wood And Materials Used
Claro black walnut, Oregon bitter cherry, eastern white maple
Tools Used
Alaska chainsaw mill, Bosch plunge router, table router, jointer, 13" planer, 50" planer, table saw, Hutchins air sander, draw knife, flap wheel, plug cutter
Location
Northwest Oregon
A couple of weeks ago I posted on this forum about a live-edge coffee table that I built two years ago. That table had many intricate inlays of birds. One of my earliest inlay projects was a fireplace mantle that I built a couple of years before. The inlays on the fireplace mantel were much simpler than the bird inlays, but the effect came out nice.
In 2015 I learned of a large Claro black walnut tree that a golf course had taken down because it was in the way. I bought all six logs for $250.00, then I ordered an Alaska chainsaw mill to fit my Stihl 064 with 36" bar. I milled the logs in place at the golf course. This was the first time I used an Alaska chainsaw mill. I have milled many species of logs with it since then.
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The logs produced two pickup loads of nicely figured Claro black walnut slabs. I milled most slabs to 2 3/4" thick, but several to 1 1/2" thick and one slab (for gunstocks) to 4" thick. I stacked and stickered the slabs (ends painted) and air dried them for three years using the rule-of-thumb of "one year per inch of thickness."
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My daughter asked me if I would build her a live edge mantle for her fireplace. By the fall of 2018 the slabs were cured - perfectly flat with zero warpage.
The slabs were too wide for my 13" planer, but at Creative Woodworking in Portland, Oregon, an hour drive from where we live, woodworkers can run their slabs through their 50" planer. The 50" planer produces a very smooth surface and I can go straight to 220 grit sandpaper afterwards (photo shows maple, not walnut going into planer).
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I made a cardboard pattern of the mantle and then cut the slab into the three pieces of the mantle, arranged so that the grain in the three pieces matches.
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There were a couple of cracks in the ends of the slabs. I mixed fine black walnut sawdust (from the bandsaw) with epoxy to create filler that matched the wood. Lately, I have changed to using Tightbond Original wood glue instead of epoxy. This blends in with the surrounding wood a little better than the epoxy mix. After sanding it is very hard to see where the cracks were.
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There were also a few dents in the wood. I am always amazed at how well it works to steam out dents with a wet rag and an iron
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Mt. Jefferson is visible from my daughter's home so I inlayed fir trees and a scene of Mt. Jefferson onto the Mantle. I used native Oregon bitter cherry for the fir trees and lower part of the mountain and eastern white maple for the snow and moon. First step was plane the cherry and maple down to 1/8” thick with my 13” planer. Then I used a Bosch plunge router to cut out and inlay the mountain and trees. I use a 1/8" straight cut Amana router bit to cut out the inlays, and the same bit to cut the inlay into the base walnut slab. After using the 1/8" bit for the outline, I hog out the wide areas with a 1/2" router bit.
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Inlays are glued in and clamped overnight. The inlays sit proud into the base walnut by about 1/32" and later sanded flush.
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I used a 115 year-old draw knife to remove the bark from the live edges
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And then a 120-grit flap wheel on an electric drill to polish it, followed by 0000 steel wool
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After running the edges through my long bed Jet jointer, I used the table router to cut the grooves for the # 2 biscuits. The biscuits join the pieces together in perfect alignment.
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Then the sections are clamped and glued together with Tightbond wood glue. I found that clamping large pieces that come together at an angle was tricky. So I screwed down 2 x 4 pieces to the workbench to keep the mantle pieces from slipping as the clamps were tightened.
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After the three sections were glued together, my three-year-old grandson helped me sand it down with the Hutchins air sander and 220 grit sandpaper. The grandson is now eight-years-old and likes to tell people that he helped to build their fireplace mantle.
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I used a plug cutter to make walnut plugs for the mounting holes. A masonary bit and hammer drill were used to drill into the bricks of the fireplace. Threaded inserts were epoxied into the brick. Allen head bolts will hold the mantle to the fireplace.
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The mantle is done. Three coats of General Finish semi-gloss polyurethane topcoat were brushed on. Since I built this piece in 2018 I have changed to Osmo PolyX #3043 clear satin finish, which I think gives a more natural look than polyurethane finishes.
![]()
Here it is installed on my daughter's fireplace. She was happy!
![]()
In 2015 I learned of a large Claro black walnut tree that a golf course had taken down because it was in the way. I bought all six logs for $250.00, then I ordered an Alaska chainsaw mill to fit my Stihl 064 with 36" bar. I milled the logs in place at the golf course. This was the first time I used an Alaska chainsaw mill. I have milled many species of logs with it since then.
The logs produced two pickup loads of nicely figured Claro black walnut slabs. I milled most slabs to 2 3/4" thick, but several to 1 1/2" thick and one slab (for gunstocks) to 4" thick. I stacked and stickered the slabs (ends painted) and air dried them for three years using the rule-of-thumb of "one year per inch of thickness."
My daughter asked me if I would build her a live edge mantle for her fireplace. By the fall of 2018 the slabs were cured - perfectly flat with zero warpage.
The slabs were too wide for my 13" planer, but at Creative Woodworking in Portland, Oregon, an hour drive from where we live, woodworkers can run their slabs through their 50" planer. The 50" planer produces a very smooth surface and I can go straight to 220 grit sandpaper afterwards (photo shows maple, not walnut going into planer).
I made a cardboard pattern of the mantle and then cut the slab into the three pieces of the mantle, arranged so that the grain in the three pieces matches.
There were a couple of cracks in the ends of the slabs. I mixed fine black walnut sawdust (from the bandsaw) with epoxy to create filler that matched the wood. Lately, I have changed to using Tightbond Original wood glue instead of epoxy. This blends in with the surrounding wood a little better than the epoxy mix. After sanding it is very hard to see where the cracks were.
There were also a few dents in the wood. I am always amazed at how well it works to steam out dents with a wet rag and an iron
.
Mt. Jefferson is visible from my daughter's home so I inlayed fir trees and a scene of Mt. Jefferson onto the Mantle. I used native Oregon bitter cherry for the fir trees and lower part of the mountain and eastern white maple for the snow and moon. First step was plane the cherry and maple down to 1/8” thick with my 13” planer. Then I used a Bosch plunge router to cut out and inlay the mountain and trees. I use a 1/8" straight cut Amana router bit to cut out the inlays, and the same bit to cut the inlay into the base walnut slab. After using the 1/8" bit for the outline, I hog out the wide areas with a 1/2" router bit.
Inlays are glued in and clamped overnight. The inlays sit proud into the base walnut by about 1/32" and later sanded flush.
I used a 115 year-old draw knife to remove the bark from the live edges
And then a 120-grit flap wheel on an electric drill to polish it, followed by 0000 steel wool
After running the edges through my long bed Jet jointer, I used the table router to cut the grooves for the # 2 biscuits. The biscuits join the pieces together in perfect alignment.
Then the sections are clamped and glued together with Tightbond wood glue. I found that clamping large pieces that come together at an angle was tricky. So I screwed down 2 x 4 pieces to the workbench to keep the mantle pieces from slipping as the clamps were tightened.
After the three sections were glued together, my three-year-old grandson helped me sand it down with the Hutchins air sander and 220 grit sandpaper. The grandson is now eight-years-old and likes to tell people that he helped to build their fireplace mantle.
I used a plug cutter to make walnut plugs for the mounting holes. A masonary bit and hammer drill were used to drill into the bricks of the fireplace. Threaded inserts were epoxied into the brick. Allen head bolts will hold the mantle to the fireplace.
The mantle is done. Three coats of General Finish semi-gloss polyurethane topcoat were brushed on. Since I built this piece in 2018 I have changed to Osmo PolyX #3043 clear satin finish, which I think gives a more natural look than polyurethane finishes.
Here it is installed on my daughter's fireplace. She was happy!
