Wonderful, simple, solid white oak mantel. This beam just has this natural glow about it. A few pleasant cracks run across the face — a testament to it being a solid beam. It displays lighter colored sapwood peeking around the edges. A few knots are scattered about. There are also original circle saw marks from about 25 years ago when this was cut. This particular batch of white oak was stored in a heated shouse (shed/house) for all that time. It is dry and has become what-you-see-is-what-you-get. It shouldn’t yield any surprise twists or cracks. The top and bottom both have pretty similar, pleasant looks to them.

This beam is shown as sanded, but no top coat finish has been applied. We have lots of options for finishing with a very natural look. We try not to use modern pigmented stains. For darkening white oak, we will often use ammonia in varying amounts and approaches. At the end of the picture set, there are a few sample mantels from previous projects. Finishing the natural look, we’ve found a nice balance with a pre-treatment and a natural wax finish (including bees and carnauba waxes). It has a wonderful, smooth touch that allows you to still feel the wood grains and yet maintains the natural light color of the raw wood. We can apply finish on this beam for an additional $75.

This one is solid and not a box. And it shows. It’s tough to find a good alternative to solid material. But therein lies the challenge. Big wood is difficult to dry. We often say that drying wood is a bit like cooking meat. A 1in steak cooks in 10 minutes or less — leaving it a little raw in the middle. A 4in or 5in roast can take hours. The same is true of drying wood in kiln. If not done right, the middle is still wet (and raw). Wet wood can warp, crack, twist, and do other unexpected things. We don’t want that. This one is well and properly dried.

This particular natural white oak mantel is currently 7.75in tall x 8in deep x 76.5in long. It can be cut down to size and re-finished for no additional cost. We also have some similar 7.5in x 7.5in pieces that can be finished up as well.

It can be shipped anywhere in the lower 48 states via FedEx Gnd for $150

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