ChinaBerry Hollow Form

[Gil Jones]

3.5" wide by 1.75" hi
Turned from a green chunk of 4" dia China Berry limb, hollowed out to a .180" wall. The collar is Live Oak burl. All colors are natural, and the finish is polished wood with a coat of Watco Oil, and lightly buffed.

[hughie]

Gil,

This is better than the Magnolia...well I like it anyway.The live oak sets it off well. Nice job. hughie

[Gil Jones]

Thanks Hughie, it rather reminds me of a Sea Urchin shape. First China Berry I ever turned, and I was surprised that it did not warp or try to crack.

[bdar]

Hi Gil nice hollow form you have there. The live oak burl sets of the China Berry form. Is China Berry the Black Mulberry Tree? What size opening did you go through for the hollowing?
Darren

[Gil Jones]

Thanks for all the comments.
Here you can read about the tree, it is not of the Mulberry family, and the berries are poisonous> http://www.bullcreek.net/chinaberry.html
Hollowing was done through a 1" hole, and the collar was CA glued in place after it and the piece were finished.

[OGYT]

Gil, the stable characteristics are the same, but this looks nothing like the wood from Chinaberry trees in West Texas. :o)
All of ours have a very blond color... as light as the light coloring on the right side of your photo. Hmmmm.... just the same as described in your bullcreek link, too. Wonder what the difference is? Dry country versus humid country?

[Gil Jones]

Hi Al,
Don't know what to tell ya concerning the color difference. I only have one piece of Chinaberry wood (4" dia by 20" long), and this is what it looks like. Got it at a turning club meeting. It is from North West Florida, near Tallahassee.

[bdar]

Thanks for the info on the China Berry Gil. Just the colour and grain of it is so close to the Mulberry I have turned you could pass them off for each other.
Cheers
Darren

[TTIT]

Nice looking pot Gil. Looks great. :) Like Darren, I was thinking it looked like Mulberry but am now stunned after looking at your link to the info on China Berry - I've always thought that was White Cedar!!!!!!:eek: It grows wild around here too, even though our current drought is thinning it out a bit (worst on record). :o I've even got one planted in the front yard:o :o :o .

[Gil Jones]

Thanks. Here is a pic of a Mulberry weed vase.
Left is green wood, right is 6 months later.

[hughie]

Here is a pic of a Mulberry weed vase.
Left is green wood, right is 6 months later


Gil,

Hmm, now you've got me thinking as I've got a couple of chunks of a mulberry tree lying underneath the lathe.
By the look of it it did not move much. I did wonder how stable it was.
hughie

[Gil Jones]

Hughie, I do not know what, if any, difference there is between AU Mulberry and US Mulberry. This link is to a lidded box that I made a year+ ago, and the lid still sucks air when opened. The Mulberry was about 2/3s dry when I turned it (end grain). Try it...:)) http://www.turnwood.net/Photopost/showphoto.php/photo/624/size/big/sort/1/cat/500

[hughie]

I do not know what, if any, difference there is between AU Mulberry and US Mulberry.


Gil as far as I know the Mulberry is not a native to here, also the common type we have is the white mulberry [Morus alba] ex China many moons ago
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/mulberry.html

The pieces I have are white not the red variety...pity.But they do have some small burls attached to the trunk . So might have a go at the end grain, your comments about end grain got me thinking
hughie