Here's a *big* tip re modernism: one of the major tenets is to let materials be themselves, i.e. let wood be its natural color. If you want walnut, get a big piece of walnut! Won't that be breathtaking, and you won't have to worry that you are trying to fool people into thinking alder is walnut or whatever else.

There are boards of every dimension selling every day on my local craigslist; wish I could ship some to you, so I'd have an excuse to buy them :)--but I really imagine there must be sources for lumber around you besides HD/Lowe's--try *real* woodworkers' places or call building supplies--don't get it from a "Rockler" or whatever because the prices are insanely high that far along the merchandise chain. Try to buy it from the company that does the milling (sometimes there are even people who sell self-milled lumber they get from downed trees) or a construction salvage place, even. It may be much less than you think to have the real thing. You can even buy thinner pieces so you don't have a huge slab there and make a box around a set of regular 2x4s or something even lighter, if you want.

Okay, I talked to my contractor and the best he can find locally for mahogany is about 3 1/4" high and 5 1/4" deep which is pretty small. So I was looking on ebay and found these. Do any of these work? Which one? I seem to be striking out completely in my search for walnut and quartersawn oak.

5 Foot Carved Mahogany Mantel with Corbels This one also comes in a 6' version.

58" Mahogany Shelf No corbels

73'' (6 foot) Mahogany Mantel No Corbels

The fireplace wall is a few inches longer than 6 feet.

Flyleft? Chicory? Jakabedy? I've bored you all too much with my fireplace saga? Was really hoping for some input before I start buying on ebay.

Not crazy about the corbels,

The 58" is a prettier piece of wood than the 73", but I think the size and scale depends more between those two choices. How wide is your fireplace? How tall are the ceilings?

Many people make the fireplace mantel too skimpy for the height of the fireplace. You might want to consider something that is chunkier, it looks like a TALL wall.

I have an existing fireplace that i was trying to determine what the wood was and came across what i thought were gorgeous burly walnut pieces. Lots of character and beauty. Found them on web doing searches for wood.

You might have some luck that route.

I love my mantle and like I said i think it is walnut. The stone is all light colors around and it looks wonderful.

gk5040 -- the only "chunky" pieces I've seen are way too rustic, or not deep enough to provide a sufficient "shelf." My contractor has found a piece that is 3 1/4'' high by 5 3/4'' deep, but that wouldn't give me enough room for a vase or other decorative items (would barely fit small canned goods or spices).

The wall is 6'5" wide (77''). The 73'' shelf is 2.76'' high and 10.6'' deep. That should give me sufficient space to put decorative items on the mantel. But the color of the stain looks like it runs a bit goldish/yellow. He had some truer/more reddish mahogany beams that were a nice depth, but they're not available for 45-60 days, which would mean postponing the fireplace remodel job for two months since I will need the beam in order to pick out the tile. I was hoping that the added depth to make a true shelf would help.

Surprisingly, the wall is only 9' at its highest point. I thought it was taller, too, until I measured it.

Question re mahogany: you might want to make sure that the mahogany you use is sustainably sourced...it's gorgeous but it's a major rainforest wood and is being poached, as it were, destroying habitat left and right. You can look for something that is called "FSC certified" if you're in question about the source of the wood.

OR you can look on a craigslist for someone selling downed lumber that's been milled locally. I love using that kind of wood. Make sure it's dried sufficiently as well.

This might get into the range of *you* having to do the sourcing; there are plenty of aspects of our remodel where we know that a contractor would have stopped *long* before we would have been happy...the truly custom sometimes involves extra *extra* legwork on the owner's part. I look so forward to re-doing our mantel--it will be locally milled walnut, I hope. Have you checked craigslist? You can even start looking in "services" for arborists who might know people who have recently cut down a walnut tree. Then it would have local resonance too, rather than being just another product.

Harumph. I've checked craigslist and nada. There's a lumber yard in our area that DH has used before. Pine would be substantially less expensive, and locally sourced, but it's the same size (about 4X6) so not much of a nice shelf, and I'm not crazy about the look of pine for a vintage MCM (of course, they weren't exactly concerned about the source at that time so I should keep that in mind). I was looking at reclaimed wood, but was not having any luck at all. The ebay ones are "plantation" from Honduras, so probably not a sustainable source.

What about quartersawn oak?

Walnut was available (same size again -- not happy about that) but was prohibitively expensive).

Maybe chunkier wasnt the right word. Adding more wood gives the illusion the mantel is beefier (hum, is that a word?) I quickly googled mantel shelfs and found these. I am not sure how to post a website link, so I cut and pasted. Adding more wood below the main piece of the mantel can give it a formal look. I agree that one solid piece of wood will usually have the rustic beam look. Check out these websites, just for ideas. You can add thin pieces with extra trim or even dental molding and get a different look that appears "chunkier" or lenghten the mantel. I am not sure what style home you have, but they offer several varieties.

http://www.mantelworld.com/mantel%20shelves.htm

http://www.ageewoodworks.com/product-detail.asp?prod=Windsor&cat=10

Hi !

I missed this thread earlier. I like how in the rendering the mantel extends beyond/wraps around the face of the fireplace. I think that is what gives it the contemporary flair. I know that none of the wood you have sourced is long enough for that sort of treatment, but maybe a boxed mantel can be built?

I did a quick web search to see if I could find the place, or something similar to what I was suggesting to buy a piece of wood slab.

You would need a carpenter to fabricate the actual mantle shelf, but these are some gorgeous pieces of wood. Kinda like picking out granite.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Slabs