Folks, I have been out of woodworking for a few years (no lack of love
for woodworking, but lack of time), but the wife has been wanting a
mantle to go over the fireplace. Does anyone hve any suggestions for
sources for plans? Thanks so much in advance, and please reply to
. Thanks again!

Please reply here too! I'm looking for the same thing!

Thanks,

Rich.....

Richard (in )
said:

| Folks, I have been out of woodworking for a few years (no lack of
| love for woodworking, but lack of time), but the wife has been
| wanting a mantle to go over the fireplace. Does anyone hve any
| suggestions for sources for plans? Thanks so much in advance, and
| please reply to . Thanks again!

Questions posted to usenet groups are answered in the newsgroup - for
the now obvious reason that (a) you're not the only person wanting to
know; and (b) you failed to offer to compensate any of the regulars
for working as your personal consultant.

With that understood, I did what you should have done before asking to
be spoon-fed: I did a Google search for what you said you wanted. One
of the first references was to
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/bw0011.asp, where you can
download a 15-page PDF document that could be helpful.

That document is an exerpt from what appears to be a book worth
reading before starting your project. If you're lucky, your local
library will have a copy; and if you're less lucky, you can buy it in
softcover for twenty bucks.

I think that if I were serious about building a fireplace mantel I'd
buy the book.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html

In article . com,
"Richard" wrote:

Folks, I have been out of woodworking for a few years (no lack of love
for woodworking, but lack of time), but the wife has been wanting a
mantle to go over the fireplace. Does anyone hve any suggestions for
sources for plans? Thanks so much in advance, and please reply to
. Thanks again!

New Yankee Workshop just did a session on a mantle. Maybe you can get
the plans for it from them? Just a hunch.

http://www.newyankee.com/2006.shtml

Pssssst... I have NOT gone off my rocker. NO I have NO affiliation with
Norm...not even a little bit.

Morris Dovey wrote:

Richard (in )
said:

| Folks, I have been out of woodworking for a few years (no lack
| of love for woodworking, but lack of time), but the wife has
| been wanting a mantle to go over the fireplace. Does anyone hve
| any suggestions for sources for plans? Thanks so much in
| advance, and please reply to . Thanks
| again!

Questions posted to usenet groups are answered in the newsgroup -
for the now obvious reason that (a) you're not the only person
wanting to know; and (b) you failed to offer to compensate any of
the regulars for working as your personal consultant.

With that understood, I did what you should have done before
asking to be spoon-fed: I did a Google search for what you said
you wanted. One of the first references was to
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/bw0011.asp, where you
can download a 15-page PDF document that could be helpful.

That document is an exerpt from what appears to be a book worth
reading before starting your project. If you're lucky, your local
library will have a copy; and if you're less lucky, you can buy it
in softcover for twenty bucks.

I think that if I were serious about building a fireplace mantel
I'd buy the book.


Point taken and well deserved. That said, you noted that YOU would buy
the book. Not everyone tackles problems/projects in the same way. Me,
if I wanted a mantle I would find a few pictures, decide what I liked
and draw up some plans for myself. But that's me. Other folks have
other ways they go about it.

I can't believe I said that. All this while I think I'm getting more
crabby every year and then I and say something that displays
sensitivity and empathy. Kinda ****es me off actually ;-)

You're right though... here we are connected to the greatest
information resource the world has ever seen and every usenet group
has people routinely asking for stuff that 5 minutes with Google would
supply them with more than they could ever want.

Joe Barta

Joe Barta (in ) said:

| Point taken and well deserved. That said, you noted that YOU would
| buy the book. Not everyone tackles problems/projects in the same
| way. Me, if I wanted a mantle I would find a few pictures, decide
| what I liked and draw up some plans for myself. But that's me.
| Other folks have other ways they go about it.

vbg I do the same - but then I like to see how someone who really
knows his/her stuff does it and /why/ they do it that way. It helps me
to avoid some of the not-so-obvious design errors.

| I can't believe I said that. All this while I think I'm getting more
| crabby every year and then I and say something that displays
| sensitivity and empathy. Kinda ****es me off actually ;-)

Yeah sure. :-D

| You're right though... here we are connected to the greatest
| information resource the world has ever seen and every usenet group
| has people routinely asking for stuff that 5 minutes with Google
| would supply them with more than they could ever want.

It's sometimes difficult to keep in mind that search engines are new
and strange to many people. There's a terrific web page (I have a link
to it at http://www.iedu.com/c/) about how to ask "smart questions".

Curmudgeonhood is an aspiration - never an achievement.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html

Morris Dovey wrote:

There's a terrific web page (I
have a link to it at http://www.iedu.com/c/) about how to ask
"smart questions".

Geez... it's not a page, it's a whole course! Smart people crack me up
sometimes. Seriously, what was the author thinking when he wrote such
a thing? Seemed to me like a bit of intellectual masturbation. The
only people who are going to suffer through all that mess probably
already ask "smart questions".

There, my crabbiness is back in full swing ;-)

Joe Barta

Joe Barta (in ) said:

| Morris Dovey wrote:
|
|| There's a terrific web page (I
|| have a link to it at http://www.iedu.com/c/) about how to ask
|| "smart questions".
|
| Geez... it's not a page, it's a whole course! Smart people crack me
| up sometimes. Seriously, what was the author thinking when he wrote
| such a thing? Seemed to me like a bit of intellectual masturbation.
| The only people who are going to suffer through all that mess
| probably already ask "smart questions".
|
| There, my crabbiness is back in full swing ;-)

I think it was originally written to deal with problems experienced in
some high volume technical newsgroups (I was referred to it in
comp.lang.c where there might have been 300+ posts/day) and one to
three dozen regulars providing 90% of the answers. It was when I
eventually became one of those regulars that I developed an
appreciation for the effort put into writing the guide (and added my
web page so that newbies could have a short list of links to
"cluefulness").

The How-To was so useful in helping technical forums be effective
providers of information that it's been translated into a bunch of
languages and has become an unofficial global standard. What's nice is
that it's a "read once" document. It doesn't take a lot of studying to
"get" what it says.

And no, when they're in a panic because the systems for which they're
responsible are behaving pathologically, even some /really/ smart
people don't seem to naturally ask "smart" questions...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html

"Robatoy" wrote in message
...
In article . com,
"Richard" wrote:

Folks, I have been out of woodworking for a few years (no lack of love
for woodworking, but lack of time), but the wife has been wanting a
mantle to go over the fireplace. Does anyone hve any suggestions for
sources for plans? Thanks so much in advance, and please reply to
. Thanks again!

New Yankee Workshop just did a session on a mantle. Maybe you can get
the plans for it from them? Just a hunch.

http://www.newyankee.com/2006.shtml

Pssssst... I have NOT gone off my rocker. NO I have NO affiliation with
Norm...not even a little bit.

Yeah, saw that episode, was going to mention it, and one of the things that
came up during the show - building codes. He had to modify his design to
gain code compliance. Apparently there's another step beyond looking and
drawing the mantle or is it "surround" itself.

I really don't believe all the answers have been given - yet - even on the
web, so though I'm as grouchy as the next guy, I'd still like to see a link
to someone's favorite or a picture of their home-grown. Might be the seed
that grows into my next project.

I bought several books when I was designing our mantel.

The most useful was MAKING MANTELS by David Getts. Here's a link.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...+mantels+getts

This book has examples of many different types of mantels and shows how
to design and build them.

If you want a full surround, you need more than just a set of plans.
Fire codes limit how close combustibles can be to the sides and above
the fireplace. It's a fairly complicated formula. It's in the book.

The other books I bought are really just a series of pictures of
various fireplaces to give ideas. They had very little useful
information and certainly no plans.

DonkeyHody
"Every man is my superior in that I can learn from him." - Thomas
Carlyle

Before you get down to actual plans, you need to decide what sort of
look you are after. Here is a link I found helpful in deciding what I
wanted. http://williamsburgmantle.com/samples.html

By the way, It seems there is not general agreement on the correct
spelling. Search on "Mantel" and "Mantle". You'll find it both ways.


DonkeyHody
"Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash"

If you have access to a digital camera, head to the fireplace shops and
ask if you can take pictures. Central Iowa has at least a couple of
speciality shops that have allowed me to do just that. My design is a
blend of most all the features we liked from the different stores.

Good luck.

Darwin

On 10 Jan 2006 20:20:18 -0800, "Richard" wrote:

wife has been wanting a
mantle to go over the fireplace. Does anyone hve any suggestions for
sources for plans?

Ask your wife! There's no shortage of plans, but you need to decide on
the style first. '50s pastel Jetsons is going to look a bit odd in Oak
Park, Chicago.

IMHE, mantles and overmantels are all pretty easy to design. You draw
out what you want, then the construction of it is pretty simple. Lots of
the joinery is very crude screwed butts from behind, and you just hide
the ugliness against the wall. You might find "American Bungalow" and
similar magazines to be the best source of inspiration.

Mario Rodriguez did one in FWW about seven years ago, issue 131, August
1998. Mission style in oak. Really nice job and not too difficult IMH.

Tom Cavanagh
"Richard" wrote in message
ups.com...
Folks, I have been out of woodworking for a few years (no lack of love
for woodworking, but lack of time), but the wife has been wanting a
mantle to go over the fireplace. Does anyone hve any suggestions for
sources for plans? Thanks so much in advance, and please reply to
. Thanks again!

Hi Richard,

Good luck with your mantle project. Below is a link to a plan I build quite frequently for one of my customers. The columns feature raised panel elements, the architrave is radiused, and the top is built up using stock crown molding. The whole thing is made from MDF - you'll need a sheet of 3/4" mdf, a quarter sheet of 1/2" mdf (for the raised panels), and a small piece of 1/8" hardboard. When I build this I use particle board for the blocking and non-exposed pieces to help cut costs.

http://www.architrend-woodworking.co...ads/mantle.pdf

Here's my disclaimer: I just moved my plan for it from a spiral bound notebook page to cad, and haven't built it off this redrawn version of the plan yet - so you may want to double check the cut list (I've been know to juxtaposition numbers occasionally). The dimensions for the rails and stiles are sized to the raised panel bit set that I use - your bit set will cut differently so these dimensions will probably need to be adjusted. Also, the dimensions on the top piece and top blocking will be dependent upon the crown molding that you use.

Here's a hint: make the raised panels first, make the columns out of the raised panels second, make the center architrave third. Then, assemble these components and make/attach the top pieces.

This drawing doesn't reference any of the profiles that are routed on the edges - just about anything will look good, but I suggest using profiles that are easy to sand after they are primed and not too delicate as to avoid future damage.

To make the radiused architrave, I made a template from 5/8" particle board, carefully cut the template out with a jig saw, then laminated a 5/8" wide strip of 1/8" hardboard to the cut surface using glue and brads. This results in a great template for pattern routing (for cutting multiples, this saves a load of time and $$$). I was going to have my template cut on a CNC machine so it would be very accurate, but this method gave me close to perfect results using pieces from my scrap bin (read: kept $$$ in my pocket).

Here's a link to the offsets to make your own template. It's easy to loft the template - just transfer the offsets to both sides of a piece of particle board then you are ready to go using finish nails at the offset marks and a flexible batton (I like to use a piece of 1/8" hardboard that is about 1 1/2 inches wide as a batton when laying out radius cuts like this).

http://www.architrend-woodworking.co...ads/radius.pdf

Finally, this mantle is designed to fit a 36" x 36" zero clearance gas fireplace - remember to adjust the dimenisions to meet your area's building codes (and to keep your house from burning down!!!).

Good luck,

Scott

Morris Dovey wrote:
With that understood, I did what you should have done before asking to
be spoon-fed: I did a Google search for what you said you wanted. One
of the first references was to
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/bw0011.asp, where you can
download a 15-page PDF document that could be helpful.

That document is an exerpt from what appears to be a book worth
reading before starting your project. If you're lucky, your local
library will have a copy; and if you're less lucky, you can buy it in
softcover for twenty bucks.

I think that if I were serious about building a fireplace mantel I'd
buy the book.


I have Mario's book, I built a nice mantel from it. I'd be willing to
sell the book to the OP as I'm done with it.
I give the book an excellent review. IIRC, it gives 8 or 10 plans, but
if none of them are your taste, the construction techniques are
explained in detail, and you can make your own.