Fireplace Mantle

So here’s something a little different. A neighbor came up to me about a month ago and asked, could I make a fireplace mantle? I figured sure, why not? How hard can that be?

It was to be 62″ wide, 5″ tall, and 8″ out from the wall. We sat down together and brainstormed what it should look like, and we roughly designed a secret — two drawers that would pop down when a magnetic catch was released, for secret storage. It was a fun idea, and something I’ve never done before.

As it turned out, the idea needed refining, but I started out naive and happy. The visible parts would be cherry, arranged with a waterfall effect from top to both sides and blending in the face and bottom as best I could. I’d keep gaps on the underside to a minimum to keep the drawers secret.

The woodworking was pretty straightforward. The joints are mitered all around to produce that waterfall look and keep seams to a minimum underneath. The drawers are made of poplar and plywood, and carried on 6-inch drawer slides so they would slide clear of the main unit. I had the basics built very quickly.

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The drawer carriers — those side pieces that would have the slides attached to them — are connected to the bottoms with sliding dovetails. That way their grain can run crossways to the side piece without causing it to split over time. I also used a sliding dovetail on the top of the center divider for the same reason. Only the front inch or so on each is actually glued.

The tricky part was getting the drawers to close tightly and stay closed until unlatched. I hadn’t thought through the latching system carefully enough. I bought Rev-A-Shelf magnetic catches, planning to mount them at the drawer front so you’d place the magnet over a spot and the drawer would drop down. But I didn’t leave enough room — the striker wouldn’t fit.

After much trial and error, I added a block at the front center of each drawer and mounted the catch to the top instead. That works, but it’s less satisfying — the drawers have a little bit of slop.

Here is the final result:

From the outside, it looks nice. I can’t really say the drawers are well hidden, though. The only real mystery is how to open them. But hey, live and learn. Next time I try something like this, I’ll be smarter.

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