A wonderful set of cracks and nail holes weave their way across the face of this mantel. And of course, there’s the great color variation that comes along with authentic sill timber mantels. The 6×8 size is often the perfect size — not as big as a full 8×8, but still having all of the depth for decoration. The top of this piece sits relatively clean with one filled mortise pocket (where another beam had previously joined this one). The bottom side remains free of mortise pockets and is relatively clean. The face is really the side that shines, but that’s exactly how you want it. You really don’t see the top and bottom sides like you see the face.

To back up a bit, all of this character and color is natural to a 100+ year old reclaimed sill timber. White oak starts out as a wheatish tan but can become nearly java black in a barn environment. Because this was a sill timber, it was very rotten and rough looking to start (see pictures). However, with the rot resistance of white oak, there was some solid wood hidden underneath. We cut off just the right amount from each face to reveal some wonderful streaked color.

This particular piece was a sill timber from an old barn. It was a big beam that rested on the cement or stone wall foundation upon which they built the rest of the barn. You can imagine it was pretty wet right near the ground. They used white oak for sill timbers and fence posts back in the day because it has a good natural rot resistance. Presumably, the wood was sawn on-site from local trees. Although that said, there was a sawmill in Cologne in the 1800s, so it is possible that they carted the wood from town.

The original beam came from an old barn in Cologne, Minnesota. This area was largely settled by German immigrant farmers in the late 1800s. We see towns like Cologne, Hamburg, and New Germany all in close proximity. With circle sawn beams, mostly round nails, and a straight roof, this particular barn was built close to the turn of the century.

The ends are currently unfinished. Once we have an exact size from you, we can cut, sand, and finish the ends. We can cut this mantel shorter and refinish the ends for an additional for no additional cost.

It can be shipped anywhere in the lower 48 states via FedEx Gnd for $125

About the tag – Engine Tune-Up. A complete engine tune-up special for only $8.95. This is an ad from a 1960s vintage local newspaper. With carburetors gone and all of the computerized fuel injection these days, you really don’t hear about tune-ups anymore. Just another thing of the past that won’t make sense to our kids.