–SOLD TO BRUCE E. 03/07/2017–

This black ash fireplace mantel has some nice hand hewn work dating back to the 1800s. This beam shows off the pronounced grain patterns of the ash family. In addition, it has old ax-marks (hand hewing) from when an original American settler squared off a round tree into a usable log. The ax works on the front face are much less pronounced than on the top and bottom. The bottom has a nice run of nail stains across it. Note, you will often see the bottom of a mantel more than the top. When you are sitting in chair, you often look up toward the mantel. So, you probably want to put your 2nd favorite side facing down. The backs are generally already chosen for us by nature. There is usually one side that has too much character, rot, cracking, or something going on.

The color is all natural. It has been finished with a hardwax oil, but no stain applied. As a bonus, this mantel is clean and free of mortise holes.

This mantel beam is another one of those funny pieces that was re-used from a first generation barn into a second generation barn. We see this fairly often where it is clear that they took down one building, and re-used the wood in the next building. Because this one is hand hewn, it dates back to the late 1800s around here. However, we found it in a barn that dated back to probably around the 1930s.

The original barn was located near New Ulm, Minnesota – a strong German community. In fact, some German POWs were housed near the town in World War II. Based on the style, the use of round nails, machine turned pegs and pine beams, this barn was probably built close to 1930. It did have a few reused timbers from a previous 1800s vintage barn.

This beam is priced at $115/LF. We can cut the beam down and reduce the price by $9.58 per inch up to a $115 discount. Shipping is $65.