Saturday, December 02, 2006

Dec 2nd - Fireplace Details





Greenbay has showed up for a few hours to work on more framing up on the 3rd floor.

Today I have to prepare the old cast iron clod buster wheels that I have cut up in sections and get them ready to bolt up to the masonry structure of the fireplace. It's difficult to attach the odd shaped iron brackets to the masonry wall, but I manage to using Tapcons and a masonry bit. I also have a short section of the wheel that I will have Hagen install horizontally that will act as a hanger for fireplace tools. It will mount on the stone in between the fireplace and the backside of the fireplace where the dining room wood stove will end up.

Today I have unhooked the wood stove and moved it away from the wall so that Hagen will have room to work. Pat has donated a section of stove pipe and I hook it back up and not long after I have a hot fire going trying to warm up the chilly house that is about 10 degrees inside. I have chosen a nice thick wide handhewn oak slab for a mantel and cut it to length. Using Pat's metal brake, I fabricate some galvanized sheet metal channels that will hold the antique glass bricks I have selected to use on the face of the fireplace as well as behind the wood stove.

I also managed to dig out of one of the crates, some old cast iron building stars that I will have Hagen attach to the face of the fireplace. I have picked out some square stones at Pat's that we will drill a hole in the center of to attach the stars. The antique glass bricks are some I found years ago in a salvage yard in Helena Montana. They came out of the old Anaconda Copper Company's factory office that was torn down a number of years ago. I had nearly 1,000 of them and have enjoyed using them on different projects. The particular ones I have chosen for this project are ones that are much different than the others. They are dark green, amethyst and clear, 2" thick and 6" square, with an impressed line about 2/3rds up the side. The corners are chipped. My intention in having the glass bricks installed in the fireplace face and I will run rope lights through conduit I have routed through the masonry structure. The lights will lay in the channel and light the old antique glass blocks and will give a nice touch to the downstairs rooms.

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