Building a Fireplace Mantel

In this episode, I designed and built a Craftsman-style fireplace mantel for a client in Colorado Springs.  The mantel was made from hickory and stained to match some of the other millwork in the house.

Building a Custom Fireplace Mantel to Match a Staircase Newel Post

In my last video, I shared the process of building a custom staircase and handrail for a client. They loved the newel post design so much that they asked me to create a matching fireplace mantel! Today, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of building this mantel, from milling the wood to the final installation.

Selecting and Preparing the Wood

I started by rough-ripping the stiles, mantel sides, and inner panels to width before sending them through the planer. This ensured consistent thickness across all pieces.

One key detail was selecting boards with similar grain patterns and coloring. Since I planned to miter the joints, I wanted the transitions to look seamless—almost as if the mantel was made from a single piece of wood.

Mitering and Gluing the Stiles

I cut miters on the sides of the mantel where they met the front stiles. To keep everything aligned during glue-up, I used blue tape as a hinge, spacing it every few inches so I could monitor the miter joint while clamping.

Since I left the mitered pieces slightly long during initial cutting, I had some flexibility to adjust the grain matching before final assembly. Once the glue dried, I ripped the stiles and mantel sides to their exact final dimensions.

Assembling the Legs with Dominos

For joinery, I used the smallest Domino tenons available. If you don’t have a Domino joiner, biscuits or even small mortise-and-tenon joints would work, though the stock was only about 3/8″ thick for the reveal, so precision was key.

I clamped them in a vise to make cutting the mortises safer on the long, narrow pieces. For the small rail pieces, I stacked them against each other for stability while routing the mortises.

Since I was gluing end grain to long grain, I applied glue to the Dominos and inside the mortises for a strong bond.

Building the Header and Cove Molding

The header was constructed similarly to the mantel sides—joined straight, ripped with a miter, and glued up with blue tape holding everything in place.

Next, I added plywood cleats to the legs to secure the header. Then, I mocked up the mantel to measure for a filler strip that would support the cove molding.

For the cove molding, I used a router to create the initial profile before removing excess material with a dado blade at the table saw. This reduced strain on the router and minimized tear-out. Afterward, I switched to a round-over bit to create quarter-round molding for the base of the legs.

The Final Touches: Bullnose Shelf and Trim

The top shelf needed a bullnose edge, so I used the same nosing bit from the staircase project. I cut a test profile first to set the correct blade angle before routing the final piece.

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