Secure mantle to fireplace?

[N80]

After 20+ years we are finally getting a fireplace in our log cabin (not our primary residence). It is about 3/4s done. The firebox is masonry. The flue is terracotta pipe. Damper is cast iron.The structure of the chimney is cinder block faced in regular brick.

I am going to build the mantle out of it. It will be made of a rough cut beam from my sawmill. It will have 'legs' that go down to the hearth that the beam sits on. The design will be something like this (but brick, not stone and the mantle will not be as large):

I will need to secure this to the brick, of course, and would like to know the best way to do it. The mantle will be supporting its own weight vertically so the fasteners are primarily to keep it up against the brick. They will not need to support the whole thing.

I'm looking for advice on what type of fastener (Tapcon?) and where to drill. I'm assuming I drill in the mortar and not the brick itself.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[KennyG]

If you have the tools to mill a relief on the back of the mantle, I would suggest using a mounting strip on the wall with an angle and a corresponding angle in the opening on the back of the mantle so you can just hang it with no visible fasteners.

 

[oldtimer 66]

You may have your design completed and maybe not. The picture shows my fire place with a double mantel. Note the mantels just lay on the stepped out brick. They have remained straight and true for over 40 years. Wood box from the garage. Maybe you or some one else would be interested with this design. Later.

 

[Hay Dude]

Gorilla glue! LOL
Seriously, I would insert 2 horizontal support blocks/stone/brick under your horizontal mantle. Then drill from the top of the mantle downward into the support blocks. This is what I did.

 

[Rockbadchild]

You could have two dowel protruding off the wall and have holes inside the beam for it to slide in and a counter sink pin or bolt to lock everything in place like the cross section below, this could be done on each vertical beams or on the top beam.

 

[workinonit]

We laid rebar in the bricks on ours. I think 4 pieces. Drilled the back of the 8' hand hewn beam in the correct locations and drove the beam on the rebar that was protruding. It worked perfectly. No mounting devices are showing at all.

 

[Tinhack]

If this is a real log cabin, I would use fasteners that went all the way to the logs.

I watched the builders of my house in Ohio over a period of several months. My fireplace was brick from hearth to ceiling. They poured a concrete footer and had block support in the basement for mine. During the framing process the whole back wall was double 2x4 overlayed with 3/4" plywood. They waterproofed that then the mason had straps fastened to the plywood to hold the brick to the wall. For the mantle, they attached a 4x4x1/4" angle iron with through fasteners. The mantle was attached to that. I'm not sure how but the iron was not visible. Most likely as KennyG mentions.

Don't cheap-out on framing and support. If there's seismic activity anywhere near your area, brick will crumble like crackers if not supported.