I'm looking to build a wood fireplace mantel that has a distressed finish like an old hand hewn barn beam. The finish size needs to be approximately 7" high, 9" wide and 6' long.My options are:>Buy actual reclaimed beamPros are my labor work would be minimal, basically just need to seal it and mount it to the wall and the wood would be stable once mounted because it's already old and dry. Cons are that I am going to have to drive a considerable distance to go and buy one, like 6 hour round trip, and reclaimed beams are very expensive>Make faux beamPros are that it is light and easy to mount and I can be reasonably sure that it won't crack, warp, shrink or leak sap once installed. Materials are cheap. Cons are that the trained eye will be able to tell it is fake especially because the ends of the beam won't show end grain. Also will take a good amount of labor to build, more than my other options.>Use new beam and distress it myselfPros are that beams like this are readily available. Not too expensive and I can easily cut down to the perfect size. Cons are that it is very likely to warp, shrink and leak sap all over the rest of the fireplace which would be very bad.What do you guys think the best option for me is? I wish I could just buy a green beam and let it dry out for a year but I don't have enough time. I was thinking of trying to get a kiln dried beam too but not sure if that's even possible for an 8x10. FYI I'm a carpenter but generally just do rough carpentry ie framing and concrete, I'm doing this to help out a friend who is a mason and he is building a fireplace for a customer who wants a mantel on top.
8x8 kiln dried rough sawn pine. Oil and finish. Use the cutoff to practice with finishes.
>>2946125Your pic looks like a railway tie to me. People sell reclaimed ties all over the place and they aren't that expensive usually, I think Home Depot even carries them.
>>2946125thats just a shitty centersawn 8x8 some chucklehead whacked a few times with an axe then minwaxed purple. looks like ass in my opinion but im not a pinterest foidhole
I have what you want I’ll even give it to you for free You just gotta haul it.. from Japan
>>2946197Do not listen to this tard, you don't want a fucking railroad tie in your house. They are full or carcinogens and cancer causing wood preservatives. My opinion is that a faux beam will look like shit, so don't do that. Sounds like your decision making comes down to two variables - how poor are you and how much do you like woodworking? Consider that your travel time to buy reclaimed will probably be less than time spent to distress and finish a green beam. It will be more expensive to buy a reclaimed beam.If you have a sawmill near you that can give you really green soft wood, you can sand off the saw marks easily and use a sharp hatchet to mimick the marks that hand hewing leaves behind. I'm sure there are hundreds of videos on YouTube on how to distress wood. Regarding warping that should be trivial depending on the way you mount the beam to your mantle. Sap could be a problem for many years with green wood, especially if you use your fireplace. It's pretty easy to clean up sap with dish soap. Cracks i.e. checking in the wood is a natural part of wood drying that adds character. There is obviously a lot of satisfaction to be had in doing it all yourself, especially in the current fake and gay world. If you want to be done faster and want a more likely chance of behind happy with the end product I'd recommend to buy reclaimed, make sure it is unfinished, stain it to your desired color (test on the side that will be mounted to wall so it is not a visible location to get color right), and finish with a spar varnish. You could sand it first before all that but that could turn into a pain in the ass depending on uneven surfaces and hardness of wood and will remove some of the character of an old worm timber. Good luck
