A solid wood black walnut mantel is a stunning addition to any fireplace — rustic or elegant. We sell quite a few of these to people who want real, natural wood to accent their more contemporary fireplace setting.

We recently brought in a nice batch of properly dried walnut mantels that are approximately 4in x 9in x up to 8ft. This is recently sawn material, but it was dried in modern iDry vacuum kiln. It was in the kiln for almost 12 weeks. Proper drying is very important. We’ve seen several issues over the years where wood appears properly dried on the outside, but is overly wet on the inside. This can cause surprise twists, warps, and cracks after a mantel is installed. That’s no fun for anybody. Rest assured, this batch is below 10% moisture content all the way to the core.

In the picture set, you can see a few of our other previously sold mantel beams from this batch.

We also offer unique premium walnut box beams with end-grain ends to make bigger pieces and save some cost. These are not your typical boxes that look like cabinet work. They are very difficult to distinguish from solid beams. (there are a few pictures of these in the set. Can you identify them?) Also, some of the “build-ups” in the picture set can save money as well.

Black walnut seems to be coveted by everyone as the premium wood. You’ll always hear stories about someone’s valuable walnut grove or tree. Sometimes the stories are true, sometimes not. The price of a walnut does vary as does the demand. Right now it is still running high as slab tables are all the rage.  The wood just beneath the bark, or sapwood, is a lighter color than the rest of the body. In many cases, modern wood suppliers will steam the wood to push the dark color from the center into the sapwood. We don’t do that around here. (it seems a bit like cheating).

This piece is what is called “urban logged.” It is not antique or reclaimed. The tree was cut down for some purpose such as threatening a house or existing structure, storm damage, or was getting too old. These trees had to come down. This is not a full commercial logging kind of thing where someone was clear-cutting a forest. It is a much more responsible harvesting practice.

We have several other options as well:

• Box beam with end-grain ends – Tough to distinguish our boxes from real beam.
• Walnut mantel with metal inlay – Nice way to add some thickness and interest
• Walnut mantel with textured wood inlay – Less expensive than metal
• Walnut mantel with smooth wood inlay

We have many more solid walnut mantel beams available. Please contact us at antiqueww@gmail.com or give us a call at 612-281-9330 for a full list of current inventory and prices.