This rustic mantel has lots of hand hewn character on it. Imagine, back in the 1800s, some original settler was swinging his broad ax to make a square beam from a round tree. This particular beam is Red Oak. The bottom side has a filled mortise pocket. The front side has a hole where a wooden peg was hammered in. This mortise pocket is where another beam came to meet this post. There are some cracks on each end, but the wood is dry and we do not expect the cracks to grow.

It has a hand hewn face bordered by lighter curves where rotten sapwood was removed. The face is accented with lots of blackened nail holes and a round peg. The top has a filled mortise pocket and a nice curve toward the back. The bottom side has 2 filled mortise pockets and a large crack. The crack is stable but we drove a bolt through the mantel to prevent any more changes.

This old beam came from a old barn near SW Wisconsin. It dates back to the late 1800s when that area was being settled.

We can cut this beam down and reduce the price — less $9.50/in, up to $115.

The tag on this one is kind of fun. It is a post card from a factory tour of the Kelloggs Corn Flakes packaging room. I’m guessing the postcard dates to the 1950s.