# Spalted Birch fireplace mantle.



## NewMontanaWorkshop (Sep 10, 2004)

Neighbor dropped some wood of in my shop about a week ago... sure surprised me when I opened up the shop and saw 3 sticks of Spalted Birch laying on the shop floor -- thought the WW'ing leprechaun's had left me some goodies.  Talked to him the next day and found out that he wanted a mantle built for a small 'display wall' in their woodstove/fireplace store. 

He had all the info as far as measurements go so it was pretty easy to knock out. Rabbets (top and bottom) on the front and side pieces, mitered corners to keep the grain 'moving' around the corners.

The display wall is supposed to be finished late this week so I'm going to stop by there next week and get a picture or two of it up on the wall.

Wood: Spalted Birch
Finish: Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer and 6 coats of Deft 'Brush On' Lacquer.








Thanks for looking.


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## -Sam- (Sep 24, 2004)

Wow, nice!


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## rh111 (Mar 24, 2005)

That is a beautiful piece of wood if I might add. Looks sharp.


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## Glenmore (Sep 10, 2004)

Real nice first time I've seen this type of wood. Love that grain going through it. What do you think you will making out of that.


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## NewMontanaWorkshop (Sep 10, 2004)

Glenmore said:


> Real nice first time I've seen this type of wood. Love that grain going through it. What do you think you will making out of that.


Uhhh...
It's already made....  

That is the mantle sitting on the tailgate ready to be delivered to the store. What I received was 3 boards that were 4/4 x 6" x 8-1/2'.


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## Visteonguy (Aug 6, 2005)

Yes,, first class job, Stan... did you find any of the spalting starting to get soft or "punky" or was it all still solid material?


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## Glenmore (Sep 10, 2004)

Oh dummy me thought you were going to resaw it. Still love that grain.


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## GoonMan (Mar 22, 2005)

WOW Stan that looks great. I love the grain wrap. Great Job sir.


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## NewMontanaWorkshop (Sep 10, 2004)

Visteonguy said:


> Yes,, first class job, Stan... did you find any of the spalting starting to get soft or "punky" or was it all still solid material?


Terry,
No, nothing that was soft -- just a lot of splintering and breaking apart at the spalting lines. The biggest 'issue' working with this wood was that it kept splintering off at the grain on the edges when sanding. I ended up having to glue a number of pieces down so they wouldn't come completely off and hand-sanding rather than using the ROS.

Thanks.


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## NewMontanaWorkshop (Sep 10, 2004)

Managed to get by the Fireplace store where the mantle was put to drop off an 'accessory' and business cards for it. Wall is not 100% completed, but I snapped a picture anyways.


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## Glenmore (Sep 10, 2004)

Stan what ever else they do to the fire place that mantle really spruces it up already. Looks great.


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## GoonMan (Mar 22, 2005)

Hello Stan,

It looks great on the wall. I know how satisfying it is to see your work displayed for all to see the craftsmanship that you put into the mantle.  

Great job sir.


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## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

Stan, is that one of your bandsaw boxes on the mantle made of spalted birch? I thought you made boxes too.

Dave
the "Doctor"


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## NewMontanaWorkshop (Sep 10, 2004)

Dr.Zook said:


> Stan, is that one of your bandsaw boxes on the mantle made of spalted birch? I thought you made boxes too.
> 
> Dave
> the "Doctor"


Good eye Dave.  

Yes, I now have 3 boxes on display in their store, hopefully with more to follow.


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