Clients of mine requested a barn beam mantle for their new home, so we took a trip to the sawmill and picked out on they liked.

I cleaned up the back side of the beam with my router sled for ease of installation. 

The installed mantle. I used a thin epoxy to secure some weakened areas on the beam and finished it with lacquer. They both soaked into the wood giving it a deep, rich color without using any stain.

Looking down the face of the mantle

The marks where the beam was originally hewn by hand are still visible.