Rough sawn reclaimed wood mantel beams are also referred to as circle-sawn, or rough cut and are squared up or dimensioned by a circular saw --be it human powered or mechanically driven--as opposed to dimensioning by hand with an axe (Hand Hewn). Update your room with the charm, warmth and history only reclaimed wood can provide.

There are wide textural differences in reclaimed wood mantels. Our rough sawn mantels have the tell-tale circle saw marks which give them a more angular, but still rustic feel and of course the beautiful natural patina only over a century of natural weathering can impart.

If you're looking for a visually interesting reclaimed wood fireplace mantel beam but a bit cleaner look that is more angular, then we recommend going with a reclaimed Rough Sawn fireplace mantel beam. When people ask about your beautiful reclaimed mantel (and they will), a Rough Sawn mantel beam tells the story of a settler or farmer from 3 or more generations ago and the struggle they went through to build a life and home in the isolated frontier. Most of our reclaimed wood beams come from The Mid-West, from the Great Lakes down to Alabama. 

Rough Sawn wood describes timbers that were dimensioned with saws to convert round tree logs into dimensional lumber.

All of the wood used in the raising of a barn starts as a round tree, a log. In order to convert these spherical logs into usable and uniform sizes for joining to one another they must be dimensioned. Dimensioning is cutting the timber into dimensions such as 10" x 10", with flat or relatively flat mating surfaces. The first cutting step in this process is the rough cutting or rough sawing away the outer original face. For rough sawn beams, they were dimensioned with a saw of one type or another.

Most common are the mechanically driven large circular saws or even bandsaws, the for specificity, bandsaw cuts result in a resawn beam. These saws are very aggressive and tend to leave behind saw marks, hence the term 'rough sawn'. Though 'rough cut', rough sawn has a cleaner, more dimensional look than the more rustic hand hewn material. The look is entirely up to you. For reclaimed barn wood mantel ideas, you can choose a rough cut wood mantel by any name, including rough sawn and you'll be pleased.