Hi,
I have a wall in my house that is fieldstone, that wall has a small fireplace at the bottom:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/bclasen/Fireplace/Fireplace_03.jpg
I’d like to build a full mantle around the fireplace, probably out of oak (to match the floors). While the design is not final, I’d imagine that the side column/supports will be 40 some inches high, with the width of the mantle 60″ or so. Because the fieldstone has so much contour, I’m not sure how to scribe the wood to get a nice fit.
What I’m thinking is building a box for each piece (2 side, 1 mantle) that an oak 1x would attach to. So the wall side would follow the contours of the wall, the other side would be flat, allowing easy attachment of the actual mantle or side columns/support pieces.
I guess it is the size of scribing that has me concerned, any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bob
Edited 12/13/2005 6:14 pm ET by bclasen
Replies
Hold the scribe perfectly perpendicular the stone face. Do not let the scribe flop around. Use masonite or similar rigid / flat material. If masonite, spray some white paint on it so you see the scribe better. Once you fine tune the pattern, transfer to the oak. When cutting, bevel or back cut it.
You'll have to brace the pc you're trying to make a pattern on so it's in the exact location and plumb to the fireplace wall.
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Edited 12/13/2005 6:47 pm ET by calvin
Good description.
Bob, In addition to what Calvin said, carefully watch how your mantle lands on the stone layout to avoid problems with scribe lines in-between stones, etc. Sometimes going an inch wider or more narrow saves an hour or more with complicated scribes.
Happy holidays,
Don
Basically what Calvin says except I would scribe the oak, why do it twice!
Doug
Thanks for the tips guys. I'm sorry to be dense (I've never scribed before) - when you are talking about a scribe, is that the same tool you get from dime store - a compass type scribe? Or is there a specialty tool for this?
Thanks, Bob
b, yes, those are what we all mostly started with. A pc of wood to shim over the pencil will also work. I've taped a pencil to a pc of qtr inch ply and found it to work just fine. Depends on what you are trying to scribe sometimes. You want a free flowing pinpoint (usually) accuracy, it's hard enough to cut a wavy line, so you have to make it right.
The trick is to transfer the shape exactly as it is. That's why you need to hold that scribe in the same position, directly across and perpendicular from what you are trying to trace. The pc you are scribing should also be in the same position (plumb or level) that it will be when mounted. I'd set it so that it was touching the stones in at least one spot. Measure the furthest it is away from the recessed morter joint and set the width of the compass to that measurement. This is why it helps if the pc you are making the line on is fixed in some manner. Then you can concentrate on keeping that compass dead on perpendicular and in the same position all the way down.
Best of luckA great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
I remember a job a long time ago. It was a long pc of casing, scribed to brick..........The designer showed up and suggested running the casing straight edged and a half inch short of touching the brick. Back that up with a black painted scribed pc mounted behind the casing. Gave a shadow line. Looked nice, nicer than a pc of casing with a bunch of notches in it.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
for a beginer you might want to try a log scribe, they have a level bubble mounted on them to make it fool proof .. check Lee Valley's web site .. others will be available ..
Great ideas guys. I'm looking at the log scribe, seems pretty nifty. And the tip about placement an inch or so one way or another is great, I'll be sure to check that out. I may ask for the scribe for Christmas so I won't finish this right away, but when I do, I'll try to post some pictures.
Bob
And by the way - can you recommend a forum for design questions? I don't know if this is the appropriate place to ask, but I'd like some opinions on what I want to do with this wall/fireplace in terms of a mantle & supports.In case you'd like to put in your 2 cents, let me describe my issues. The picture below shows the wall in question from across the room. The wall room is 12' x 18', as you can see the fireplace is at the bottom of the wall. It had an ugly screen on it, I removed it, cleaned the fireplace and repainted the box.http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/bclasen/Fireplace/Fireplace_06.jpgMy issues are several, including:
- the fireplace opening seems too small for the wall, I'd like to increase the appearance of the fireplace- the fireplace is at ground level, I'd rather have it higher. However this I won't do anything about at this point.- the wall, while nice, needs something else.What I was thinking was to put a mantle around the opening, but I'm concerned that because the wall is so busy/textured, I'd want to have a simpler mantle, such as something like this:http://www.mantelsdirect.com/newburg.htmlI'm not saying this is the specific frame I want, but this picture illustrates 2 things - a wood frame (my floors are oak) and the area between the frame and the box (green marble in this example) helps increase (to my eyes) the appearance of the fireplace. For my specific wall, I'm thinking this area could be:1. Drywall painted to match the fieldstone on the wall, or
2. Slate or field stone to match the apron (or whatever it is called) of the fireplace as shown in this picture: http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/bclasen/Fireplace/Fireplace_09.jpgThen when I'm done with the mantle, I'd get some artwork for the wall - that's not too much of a concern right now.So if anyone has an eye for such things, what do you think of this approach? I guess another idea is just a mantle w/out side supports/columns. I guess the wall is busy enough that I don't want to add too many more elements to it, but it seems if I get an oak mantle w/ side columns, that would help tie the floor in as well as make that fireplace more of an attractive element.Again, this may not be the place for such questions, if anyone has a suggestion where this might be better answered, I'd appreciate it!Bob
Bob
I see that Calvin mentioned craftsman style, I didn't see where you mentioned any style. Is that what your going for?
Are you locked in on the mantle being oak? Your right the wall is busy with all that texture but if you did a painted mantle you would make it stand out and it would be less busy. Just a suggestion.
Another thing that you could consider would be a mantle with an over mantle, go to the ceiling, get rid of some of that brick, or at least hide some of it.
Defiantly hanging some art would tone down the BIG BRICK WALL.
Doug
You have gotten some good advice on scribing......... That being said 15 years or so ago I was doing some mantles for an old Italian Master mason who had made some big money ( He owned a few Tim Horton's franchises)read expensive mantles.
One of the mantles was on a round beachstone fireplace.... I had left lots of material to scribe, As we sat there looking at it we decided that a straight edge down the stone would look better. I then ripped the scribe material off and we looked at it. It went in straight edged. I stand by that decision today.
But what do I know ?
On a hill by the harbour
Here's a page from Gary Katz's site. Has to do with craftman style fireplace surround. Maybe you can glean some ideas. Also, go back to his main page and look around. I think there's other things buried there on mantles. And don't be afraid to ask gary for some ideas. The guy is good and is forthcoming with advice. You won't regret the visit.
Best of luck.
I'm not familiar with the log scribe. If you get it and use it, come back here and tell us about it. Bookmark this thread of yours by hitting the subscribe button. You'll be able to find it later in the "my forums" section.
edit, sorry forgot the link: http://garymkatz.com/TrimTechniques/CraftsmanMantel-2005.htm
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Edited 12/14/2005 6:18 pm ET by calvin