This mantle piece is a solid piece of reclaimed woods. It definitely looks reclaimed, so if you are looking for something more polished, this isn’t it.  It is rough and shows the real wood grain, flaws, and knots.  

The only con is that it is slightly bowed.  We had to plane the wood a bit to make it flat.  Which is pretty typical for reclaimed wood but a bit of an issue for a mantle piece.