Flyover
Trying not to screw things up worse
Phase II was the trim under the mantel. I didn't want to just buy trim from the store because what fun is that, and besides none of it matched the rustic blocky look of the top piece. So I made some, from those same pine boards my neighbor salvages from dishwasher packaging.
I started by ripping them to different widths to get a kind of pyramid effect.
I also cut them to different lengths so I could do the same kind of interweaving thing for the edge-gluing as I did for the top piece. I didn't need them to be flush this time since I was going for a kind of brick-like look. And I clamped right on the workpiece since the top and bottom weren't going to show.
Once glued, I did a 22.5˚ miter and re-glued so the piece would wrap around the wall. I wasn't really sure of the best way to do this without having to create or buy some kind of jig, so I just clamped at the joint. Good enough.
Planing and sanding this piece was difficult, especially since I was working with a cracked-open thumb. (Dry weather does things to my skin now that it never did when I was younger.)
Once I was done with that I realized I had somehow made it too long on the sides. I think I hadn't accounted for the curved outer edge of the top mantelpiece.
This meant I would have to cut the trim shorter, losing that cool pyramid effect. But I decided at least I could follow the curve of the top piece. Once again, it would have been nice to have my bandsaw up and running for this, but between my jigsaw and my flush cut saw and a lot of sanding I got the cut done how I wanted.
Then it was just staining and polying...
...and I used some of those super-strong magnets to secure it under the top piece. Happy with it!
...and so is my wife! She says the living room finally looks like a real house and not just a place where squatters live.
I started by ripping them to different widths to get a kind of pyramid effect.
I also cut them to different lengths so I could do the same kind of interweaving thing for the edge-gluing as I did for the top piece. I didn't need them to be flush this time since I was going for a kind of brick-like look. And I clamped right on the workpiece since the top and bottom weren't going to show.
Once glued, I did a 22.5˚ miter and re-glued so the piece would wrap around the wall. I wasn't really sure of the best way to do this without having to create or buy some kind of jig, so I just clamped at the joint. Good enough.
Planing and sanding this piece was difficult, especially since I was working with a cracked-open thumb. (Dry weather does things to my skin now that it never did when I was younger.)
Once I was done with that I realized I had somehow made it too long on the sides. I think I hadn't accounted for the curved outer edge of the top mantelpiece.
This meant I would have to cut the trim shorter, losing that cool pyramid effect. But I decided at least I could follow the curve of the top piece. Once again, it would have been nice to have my bandsaw up and running for this, but between my jigsaw and my flush cut saw and a lot of sanding I got the cut done how I wanted.
Then it was just staining and polying...
...and I used some of those super-strong magnets to secure it under the top piece. Happy with it!
...and so is my wife! She says the living room finally looks like a real house and not just a place where squatters live.
