Making a Floating Mantel

Watch our process video or read on for step by step instructions on a DIY floating mantel.

We first started by visiting our local lumber yard where we picked up this wooden beam that was reclaimed from an old barn somewhere out of the midwest.

The idea is to make a floating shelf so we can hang this wooden beam above our fireplace with no hardware showing. Instead of buying off the shelf brackets, we made our own. (We’ll show how)

We had some left over two by six (2” x 6”) boards from a previous project that we cut to fit the dimensions of the wooden beam face that will mount against the wall.

This piece is used to create a drilling jig, so we can make sure the holes we drill into the beam are perpendicular and completely straight.

After cutting the two by six (2” x 6”) down to size, we marked the center of the wood and measured 5 spots equidistant along the length of the wood.

Then we used our drill press to drill the holes all the way through.

With all of the holes drilled, we clamped the jig onto the wood mantel making sure all the sides were flush.

Then using our cordless drill, we drilled out all of the holes as deep as the drill bit let us.

Now that the holes in the wood mantel are done, we shifted gears to making the bracket that will mount against the wall and hold the wood mantel with metal rods.

We picked up two ⅜” flat steel bars that are about 36” long from our local hardware store. Since the wood mantel was longer than 36” we needed to cut one steel bar to size. Ideally we would have like to use one long piece, but this is all they had.

With the proper dimension, we welded the two pieces together making one long piece.

Using the drilling jig we made earlier, we transfered the hole marks onto the steel bar and used our drill press to make the holes large enough to fit our ½” steel rods.

We used our bandsaw to cut the steel rods to length.

Using the wooden mantel as a template, we placed the steel rods into the holes we drilled and placed the steel flat bar on top to make sure the holes and steel rods align correctly.

Side note: At this point, we found that drilling five holes and using five steel rods gave more chances of error and risk of the holes not aligning properly.

If we were to do it again, we would only use three holes and rods because that would be plenty strong to hold the mantel up and would minimize the chance of mistakes.

For a cleaner look, we wanted to recess the bracket into the wooden mantel. We used our router to remove the thickness of the bracket along the length of the wooden mantel.

Now we finally install the bracket against the wall.

Using a stud finder, we found studs along the wall and used ⅜” lag bolts to secure the bracket onto the wall.

Once we screwed the bracket on the wall, we slid the wooden mantel over the steel rods and decorated.

It took way longer (months) than we expected, and we had to hammer the heck out of it to straighten out onto the 5 rods, but it looks fantastic and we’ve been thoroughly enjoying our new fireplace!