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Back view of the mantel
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Sideview of back plate cleat
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Cleat attached to wall
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Fireplace surround underlying construction
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Mantel and corbels being stained
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Finishing in progress
So here’s the continuation of my earlier post on building the fireplace surround. The pieces I haven’t covered yet are the corbels, the mantel, and how these pieces are mounted to the wall.
I drew a template of the corbel on paper and transferred it to a piece of pine. I cut out the template with a jig saw and sanded the curves smooth. Each corbel is glued up from three pieces of 1 inch red oak.
I cut equal sized blanks for each piece on the table saw and cut them to length on the miter saw. I ripped all the pieces to width during one session on the table saw so the dimensions would be the same. I set a stop on the miter saw stand so the length would be the same on each.
I traced the template on to each blank and rough cut the curves with a jig saw. I then clamped the pine template to the blank and finished cutting the curve with a straight bit in my router. It was a little time consuming, but it worked OK. I thought using 1 inch oak would be easier than 3/4 inch because I would have fewer pieces to cut and glue up. It turned out that 1 inch is just beyond the depth I could cut with my router and bit, so it came out a bit rougher than I would like.
I glued the pieces for the corbels together. They are attached to the back plate with wood screws. The back plate has 3 pieces of oak glued and screwed to it. The top and bottom piece are to pushi it out from the wall to give it some more depth.
The middle piece is a cleat that attaches the corbels and back plate to the wall. I cut one piece of oak at a 45 degree angle. Once piece is attached with glue and screws to the back plate. The other is screwed to the studs. I used construction adhesive as well to provide additional bonding.
The matel is a box created with pocket screws. Everthing is glued together. It mounts to the wall by sliding over a piece of 2x ripped to slightly less than the opening on the back of the mantel and attached to the wall with lag bolts.
Here’s how it all goes together. The leg on the left side of the fireplace goes on first. Making sure it is plumb and level, it is attached to the two blocks of pine behind it. Then the base is attached to the leg.
Next the corbel and back plate slide over the cleats and sit against the right leg. Then the mantel slides over the block. Once it is leveled, it is attached with wood screws through the top. I tried several different ideas so that there wouldn’t be any exposed hardware, but this won’t really show.
Then the left leg and base are attached.