Oak mantle help

wolfyboy555

I have received an oak mantle which is due to go above my fireplace. I know these usually come with defects but I am wondering how to go about making the cracks not as obvious.... especially the ones which will be on the front facing outwards (picture #3) so we can see it all the time. I'm not too worried about the ones on the top as we will have items on top etc. I have attached some pictures to help.

Is is wood filler or resin or where do I start?

Also could anyone recommend an oil to use on it. I quite like the colour it has at the moment so don't want to change that too much.

Many thanks.

wolfyboy555

just bumping for any advice on above? only getting around to trying to hang it now so will have to sort something out for it.

dathi

what i use is powdered earth pigments usually raw sienna yellow ochre and brown umber mixed through isopon car body filler ,you mix the powders through the filler and when you are happy with colour you add the hardener to the mix and fill the cracks, and sand off the excess. you do it in small batches as it hardens very quickly and the variations between batches makes it less obvious in the final piece