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help with joinery for a mantel

Started by catalina, April 04, 2017, 05:28:15 PM

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catalina

Folks i need your advise. I am making a mantel for our new house. I have a cherry burl slab 5 ft 6in long x 13 in wide (burl part-15 inches at widest) x 4 inches thick-picture below. First off all wood involved I cut 4 years ago at 5 inches thick, air dried under roof in an open sided building with open air flow and moved the slabs I wanted to work with into my current home 8 months ago. Sat untouched for 4 months with house thermostat set at constant 70 degrees-At times I know the house got really dry over the winter when it got super cold outside.  I then had slabs thickness planed flat at 4 inches, brought back home and stored in house for last 4 months while I have used west systems epoxy to fill voids and cracks that remained. Here is where I need your help-I have looked everywhere and no one makes a board/slab stretcher, lol. I want the mantel to be longer and here is what I am thinking-I have additional slabs not burl, from same tree, same process as burl slab that I would like to attach to the ends of the burl slab that are 12-14 inches wide from pith side to natural edge (no pith remaining). Thus, burl slab end grain to additional slab side face grain as in the drawing below. I will contour the end grain of the two end added pieces to match the natural edge of the burled slab and make the end grain of those part of the mantel feature. What would be the best way to join those to the main slab so that I end up with a 7 to 7.5ft long mantel? I thought about a tenon pocket in both but really have no clue as to how deep it would need to go and if I even have the tools to make it deep enough AND if I can, should I hollow out main slab to lighten the thing? Current thought process for mounting is to mount 1 inch black iron pipe to reinforced wall studs, bore holes in back of mantel about 8 inches deep and slide it on. is this feasible? Other suggestions with Joinery or mounting? Help?



 


Hilltop366

The pieces are going to move (shrink and expand with humidity changes) mostly in the opposite direction of the grain so in order to keep the front of the mantel alined the end pieces should be fastened solid near the front and floating near the back so any difference in the depth of the mantle are always at the back.

The method you choose to fasten the pieces together could depend on what you want the finished mantel to look like, hidden dowel, exposed peg, exposed lag bolt, lag bolt in a recessed hole (plugged or not)..........I think I would practice / experiment with some scraps first.

WDH

A thick tongue and groove to attach the ends to the main mantle.  The tongue needs to be able to slid in the groove, so make sure that you allow movement.  Make the tongue on the long piece with a router and the the groove on the short end piece.  You can drill a dowel hole through the tongue on the long piece and through the groove of the end piece, elongate the hole in the tongue side-to-side (just the tongue piece) to allow just a bit of movement of the end piece to accommodate changes in humidity.  Drive the dowel through both pieces and trim flush.

Instead of black pipe, you might consider 1" threaded rod.  The threads on the rods act as friction points to keep the mantle tight to the wall. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

catalina

Thanks guys for the input! I like the threaded rod, much better idea than the pipe. WDH, I really don't have much extra length on the main slab to cut a tongue-do you think I could cut a groove in both make a tongue and glue the tongue in permanent on the main piece?

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