SOLD to Tracey P in Danville, CA
November 30, 2017

While this is a very simple barn beam mantel, it has some great wood features. Most beams have the heart of the tree at the center of the beam. Not this one. They cut the outsides into scrap and planks, then they keep the center for a beam. This beam, however, has the heart beyond the lower front corner. That means that this was a huge log that has been quartered to create 4 large beams. That’s interesting and all, but the result is that as oak grow rings run perpendicular to the face, they reveal these rays that cross the grain patterns. People will often refer to this is tiger stripes or quartersawn oak. It is generally prized among woodworkers and wood aficionados.  This beam has quarter sawing on both the face and the bottom. The face’s quarter sawing really shows up in the pictures of the top of the mantel.

There is an original barn mortise pocket on the top and bottom of this mantel. What’s pretty cool is that you can see the original scribe marks of the original craftsman. We know that these barns were all build by hand, but when you see marks like this, the human touch becomes so much more real.

This mantel beam came from a early 1900s vintage barn between Norwood, MN and Green Isle, MN. About 40 miles SW of Minneapolis downtown. This is the beginning of farm country. The soil here is rich and black and runs black as deep as three feet. This was the Western edge of the Big Woods, if you are familiar with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.

This beam is priced at $100/LF. The beam is 80 inches long and priced as such ($667) . However, we will cut down the to the mortise pocket at 58 inches and reduce the price to $550. We can also cut the beam down to any length and reduce the price by $8.33 per inch, up to a maximum discount of $117. We can ship this one via FedEx Gnd. We use a flat rate of $65 for all mantels that ship via FedEx. If you’d like it cut down, please contact us at antiqueww@gmail.com or call 888-226-5370.

The Tag — File Monkey. I just thought it was a cute little ad from the 1950s for Nicholson Files. They are still in business today. NOTE: The tag dimensions are slightly off. 6.5in tall x 7in Deep x 80in Long is more accurate.