Looking for advice/opinions

[Duane N]

It's a slow process re-doing my fire place surround but I'm almost there.  At this point I'm trying to figure out what would look better transitioning from the front to the returns of the surround.  I have a crude drawing of what I'm "seeing" in my head and also got some advice from my neighbor,

   

My neighbor suggested I do a butt joint on the front panel to the side panels but I'm not sure how nice it would look.  My original thought was to make the front panel overhang the sides by about 1/4"-1/2" and dado the side panels into the front.

I'm open to suggestions if you're willing to offer them.  Ignore the oak plywood it will be covered up by rails and stiles with either flat panels or raised panels.

Here are 2 pictures of the fire place itself and what it looks like as of this morning.

   

   

[R Clark]

Are you going to keep the bases down at the bottom?  If so, I suggest something as simple as they are.  You could:

  -- Put the face over the edge of the side so that you couldn't see the side at all from a front-on view.  Then roundover the edge to soften it.  Or, 

  -- Extend the stile beyond the side and bullnose that edge, or,

  -- Put a molding around the corner, though I think this would look more like an applique.

If you want a little more ornamentation, you could turn some stock on a lathe, making it larger and then put it on the corner, which would have the effect of making the edge look somewhat like a column.  I had to do that for this antique fireplace mantle restoration that I finished last winter:

[Duane N]

Yes, the base is staying as is and I left the top piece of trim large because I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach the side pieces. 

I had considered the column piece on the corners but I don't have access to a lathe so it would be square stock to hide the corner joint.  When I originally did this fire place 14 years ago I installed what looked like columns and used fluted pieces of oak and 45'd the long edges to give it a finished look. 

I thought a lot about it today and may just extend the front past the sides and round over the edges as you suggested.

[R Clark]

Yes, the base is staying as is and I left the top piece of trim large because I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach the side pieces. 

I had considered the column piece on the corners but I don't have access to a lathe so it would be square stock to hide the corner joint.  When I originally did this fire place 14 years ago I installed what looked like columns and used fluted pieces of oak and 45'd the long edges to give it a finished look. 

I thought a lot about it today and may just extend the front past the sides and round over the edges as you suggested.

Simple is good; my tastes run to the simpler designs.  I think I'd opt for the slightly wider front face with bullnosed stiles, too.

The antique fireplace mantle (circa 1910) sat in pieces in my parent's basement for 45 years.  It almost ended up in a dumpster, but I couldn't let that happen; much of the front is bird's eye maple and the patina is intact.  If I was to build one, I'd never do it like that old mantle.

[Tapper]

I would miter the stiles at the corners and use the panels of your choice on the front and sides.

Doug

[rwe2156]

I would miter the stiles at the corners and use the panels of your choice on the front and sides.

Doug

^^ More work than its worth. 

I would use a tongue and groove to attach the stiles.  You could also simply butt glue them, but the T/G will ensure good alignment.

I would either add a corner moulding or chamfer the edges.

[hbmcc]

The one thing my wife misses most is an electrical plug outlet for Christmas lights. Her family's mantle had one.

[Duane N]

I'm making some progress on the fire place surround.  I ended up making tongue and grooves to join everything together.  I'm at the point of making the raised panel inserts and I set up the raised panel router bit and did some test cuts on some Pine that's the same thickness as the Oak I'll be using.

This is a dry fit to make sure everything lines up and is square.

   

   

I do have another question regarding grain orientation.  On my original fireplace surround I used Oak plywood and ran the grain horizontal and someone told me I did it wrong....he said the grain should have been running vertically.

The question I have is I have 4 vertical panels (lower portion) and 4 horizontal panels (upper portion).  Is it OK to run the grain vertically on the lower panels and run the grain horizontal on the uppers or is it just a matter of opinion?

[badwhiskey]

The question I have is I have 4 vertical panels (lower portion) and 4 horizontal panels (upper portion).  Is it OK to run the grain vertically on the lower panels and run the grain horizontal on the uppers or is it just a matter of opinion?

Yes   That's what I would do.

[Duane N]

This is a dry fit to make sure everything lines up and fits together on my fire place surround.  To some this is a simple build but for me it's an accomplishment getting to this point with messing anything up.
   Lots of trim pieces to make and install, final sanding and pre-finishing to do before it's assembled and installed for the last time.