One Is Done

Many of you know we cut two trees in half to be used as mantles for the home. We posted several pictures of Hans cutting and stripping the first one. Well, that mantle is done. This one is going in our bedroom and here are a few photographs of it before taking it up on the hill.

Each mantle is made of one half of an aspen tree that was part of the landscape before we started clearing the land to make room for the house. Each was rough cut by a chain saw and then stripped of the bark. The first of three to go into the home has been sanded and finished with a clear urethane finish. The markings and flaws are natural and contribute to the character of the mantle. The first finished mantle will be over the fireplace in our bedroom.

Some of the character markings on the end of the mantle really come out when finished. All markings are natural without any enhancement or addition of stains.

The support posts are purely decorative and have no function other than to add character to the overall look of the mantle.

Nice, huh!

The sister half of the one pictured is in the process of being sanded and will be mounted to the great room fireplace then one of the remaining halves of the second tree will go into the basement.

A true work in progress involves a lot of measuring, leveling and cutting followed by a whole lot more of sanding than one would want to do unless you really love getting dirty.

Once finished, this project will be one to talk about for years to come.