Mulberry wood- Any good?

[cedar n silky]

I had to cut down a 30 yer old mulberry tree I planted (showing my age:B ). Here's some of the bigger branches. The stump is still standing and is nearly 50 CM through!:oo:
I turned a lump green just to see how it goes, but I imagine when dried it might be very hard?? It's very heavy and dense!
Any experience with the stuff out there? It's got nice colour and grain, and some are a bit burly. I have painted the ends, but was wondering if they are notorius splitters?
Any comments?:D

[rsser]

Cedar, it's a load of rubbish.

Send it over here ... happy to solve your problem for you ;-}

Nah, it's great stuff .... beaut colours and lovely to turn.

Can't comment on checking/cracking from green. It's a fruitwood so it might be a tad unstable.

[DJ’s Timber]

Nice one Cedar

Mulberry is generally quite stable and rarely splits even in whole log form.

I cut one down about 5 yrs ago and just sealed the ends and only just resawed some only a few weeks ago and there was no checking or splits inside the logs.

It is also easy to turn when dried, it's not really all that hard.

[DJ’s Timber]

Found a picture of a Bud vase I turned when I cut it down. This picture was taken recently and the color has changed from a bright goldie brown to a darker more mellow brown

[Matt88s]

I've never turned any but I have carved some and found it to be an excellent medium, fairly hard but with a very smooth buttery texture to it, finishes well, nice color and grain as well. My great grandfather had planted the tree if I recall right, I had made some carvings for my grandparents when the tree fell.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

The only checking I've ever had with Mulberry was rather unusual... a smallish, (2" dia or so) curved branch I had put aside for small boxes and bud-vases started splitting across the grain! :oo: It had cracks almost halfway though every inch or so along the inside curve of the bow in the bough by the time it had cured.

I imagine this branch was rather stressed when 'twas on the tree. :rolleyes:

Apart from that, it has always been nice timber to turn.

[TTIT]

Mulberry's not too bad Cedar.:2tsup: Get's darker and darker with age. I've got some my old man cut 25 years ago - very little checking and nice to turn but watch for tearout.Takes a finish nicely. Spray your blanks with some Borax or something though as the borers love the sapwood on it.:~

[Frank&Earnest]

A bit of research on mulberry tells me that the two main species are the white (morus alba) native of Asia which produces the leaves eaten by silkworm, and the black (morus nigra) native of the Middle East. The name comes from the color of the wood (black = dark brown: probably DJ's vase is this species). There are also a Chinese, a North American and an African type.

While the black variety is good for carving and turning, the white is generally reputed poor for these purposes. Those logs look half and half...could somebody please identify the species? I would like to try some morus alba. None is indigenous, which one can be found here?

Maybe you could feed the leaves to silkworms to see if they eat them...:D
Thanks
Frank

[OGYT]

Our Mulberry timber is yellow... sort of like Bois d'Arc... when first turned, but browns up pretty nice... sort of like Bois d'Arc... after it is exposed to UV light for a while, and is dense, but not too hard... not at all like Bois d'Arc.
Turn it all. But no need to rush, I hear.

[cedar n silky]

Thanks everyone for your feed back.:2tsup:
Frank- The mulberry I cut down ws the good old fashion "purple fruit "variety. The yummy one that the kids would come home from after a day out foraging, and they would be stained from head to foot, mainly the hands, and of course the clothes.
The heartwood is a yellowy brown colour, with the white being most likely the sap wood.(in the pictures)
I have a "white" mulberry growing also, and it has white fruit, but the kids don't like them because they are not as sweet. And yes the kids used to do silk worms (ah those school projects:roll:) , and I became the supplier of choice green mulberry leaves from both purple and white trees.
If you want white silk you feed them white mulberry leaves, and for some strange reason if you feed them the purple fruited leaves, you get yellow silk (It could be the other way around, it's been a while!)- Work that one out!:doh: I might be tempted to "prune " a branch off the white to see how it looks "inside'!

[Frank&Earnest]

Thanks,Cedar, that seems to be the timber I was looking for. The colour of the berries does not matter, AFAIK. Doubt it would be commercially available, though! Please keep posting your experience with it, I look forward to learning from it.

[cedar n silky]

It's only been 6 weeks since I cut down that mulberry, and I turned a bowl back then green just to see how it would go, and it has finally stopped moving. It never even looked like splitting, and I love the wavy rim it has developed (first 2 photo's) . I turned another today and am hoping it will do the same.:)
Ern, I turned a foot into it above the spigot which is a first for me. I usually turn a spigot for the chuck and then think about turning a foot out of the spigot, almost as an afterthought (and generally it didn't work for me).I also used to turn a "big" spigot (about 12mm) thinking that's what the chuck needed, but I just turnd one about 3-5 mm this time, and the jaws hung on just fine, so i am "refining" things.
I finished the first one in plain old olive oil (rubbed in by hand and wiped of with a rag), but i guess DO is ideal for wobbly bowls (if your not going to eat out of them)? Not much point in trying to go for buffing on the lathe in this scenario I imagine, although I suppose spraying them with a gloss or semi gloss finish is an option?:?

[Frank&Earnest]

Hi Cedar, nice bowls!. I see that you are making a trademark of the nick on the rim - good marketing move!:2tsup:

You would not have by any chance a couple of cubes of mulberry 160 wide, or maybe a log that can be roughed down to 160 diameter by 300 or so? As I said before, I would be interested in buying them for some experimenting. Please let me know if you are interested.

Cheers
Frank

[Hickory]

Mulberry tree is best grown in Far Far Away places but the wood is excellant to look at, when bows and such are turned from them... Having lived across the street from a vacant lot that spurred a Mulberry tree and having knowledge of how Robins and such birds enjoy the fruits but that it gives then Diarreah or such and how they fly over any parked vehicle and deposit the red dye from the fruit of the Mulberry and how it won't clean off too easily and one day did deposit a load of bird ingestion on the shoulder of my fine looking daughter which sent a tizzy of a fit flying. One fine day a neighbor bought that piece of property that nurished that retchid tree and on the day following the legal closing of the deed transactiuon, took upon himself to saw the boughs into firewood, the whole neighborhood rejoiced and the new land owner was exaulted and praised by all who lived close by.

But you have made the best use of the Mulberry for it is an attractive wood, although the tree and its fruit is so obnoxious.
Thanks for the posting of your pictures.

[cedar n silky]

Hi Cedar, nice bowls!. I see that you are making a trademark of the nick on the rim - good marketing move!:2tsup:

You would not have by any chance a couple of cubes of mulberry 160 wide, or maybe a log that can be roughed down to 160 diameter by 300 or so? As I said before, I would be interested in buying them for some experimenting. Please let me know if you are interested.

Cheers
Frank

Hi Frank. By a couple of cubes, I hope you didn't mean cubic meters did you?:oo: Being and old "chippy" cubes means cubic meters, and although the tree was 30 years old, it was nearly all little whispy branches and the like, a bit like a willow tree.
But I think you meant "blocks" didn't you? I may be able to help you there, although I only got a very short thick trunk, which I am loathed to part with.
I will check the sizes you are after, against the branches I have ( I have a few of them) and PM you. What did you have in mind? Bowls?

[cedar n silky]

Hi Hickory!:)
I liked your story about the mulberry tree across the way. I am sorry it wasn't a positive one!:wink:
I always liked them because the taste yummy, make great jam, and you always knew were the kids were for a couple of months in the spring! Even though their clothes would be covered in scarlet red stains. Come to think of it, most kids up here learnt to climb their first trees on a mulberry tree. A skill that is rapidly dissapearing!:D Ah yes, and of course the school silk worm projects!!

[Frank&Earnest]

Hi Frank. By a couple of cubes, I hope you didn't mean cubic meters did you?:oo:

Lucky I did not say yards... I am not after your backyard!:D



I will check the sizes you are after, against the branches I have ( I have a few of them) and PM you. What did you have in mind? Bowls?

Thanks. Here is what I would like to turn: bowls (goke) to contain the stones used to play the game of "go". Traditionally, the Japanese use mulberry (availability because of the silk industry?) As I was saying, just an experiment for something different.

[DJ’s Timber]

I will check the sizes you are after, against the branches I have ( I have a few of them) and PM you. What did you have in mind? Bowls?



Thanks. Here is what I would like to turn: bowls (goke) to contain the stones used to play the game of "go". Traditionally, the Japanese use mulberry (availability because of the silk industry?) As I was saying, just an experiment for something different.

Guys, if Cedar doesn't have what your after Frank, I do have some blocks which are dry and I can cut some for you.

Let me know if Cedar can't do what you need and I will cut some up for you Frank

[Toymaker Len]

Nice bowls Cedar, I like the little burl bits which you have got in. Thats my favourite thing about mulberry -the way it grow lots of random burls all up the trunk. Another nice thing is that the bark sticks to the wood and so is excellent for natural edge stuff. A third great thing is that it is yellow which is pretty rare in wood.

[Frank&Earnest]

Guys, if Cedar doesn't have what your after Frank, I do have some blocks which are dry and I can cut some for you.

Let me know if Cedar can't do what you need and I will cut some up for you Frank

Thanks DJ. Of course dry is better, but I was happy to take the risk of nuking it myself. PM me anyway, I will still buy two pieces from Cedar if he offers. We are not talking cubic metres! :U Looking at the pictures, probably hollowing the end grain is not the traditional way, which would exclude the round log option (although I still like to turn bowls that way...).
Looking forward to hearing from you both.
Cheers

[cedar n silky]

Hi Frank.

[cedar n silky]

Woops. Pushed the wrong button!!:B They are pretty small, about 180 across and i50 deep. Probably a bit undersized for what you had in mind), and it would be cheaper for freight from DJS to you than from me to you.
And mine is ringing wet!
But your call. Cheers

[DJ’s Timber]

No worries guys, Frank I will dig some out off the pile in the next fews days and cut some for you :2tsup:

[Frank&Earnest]

Hi guys. OK DJ, we'll take it from there. Cedar, as you rightly say the size is a bit iffy, but I reckon that a half log 180x360 and at least 150 deep, debarked size, could probably cover it. If you have it and want to sell it, I'll keep my word. Incidentally, none of us has mentioned price yet, but we are all gentlemen, aren't we?:D

PS: I went back to read again the previous posts: DJ, are you sure that yours is not the other variety? The point is to try the right one (I would not know the difference...:no:) .

Cheers

[Hickory]

Hi Hickory!:)
I liked your story about the mulberry tree across the way. I am sorry it wasn't a positive one!:wink:
I always liked them because the taste yummy, make great jam, and you always knew were the kids were for a couple of months in the spring! Even though their clothes would be covered in scarlet red stains. Come to think of it, most kids up here learnt to climb their first trees on a mulberry tree. A skill that is rapidly dissapearing!:D Ah yes, and of course the school silk worm projects!!

Yes, it would appear that I approached the tree in a negative tone. But I had a White Car at the time.... I too, as a kid enjoyed fruit of a Mulberry tree, just as we as kids would scurry about the neighborhood robing fruit from neighbor's Cherry trees, Plumb Trees, Peach tree, Apple Trees, Pear Trees, Grape Vines and although we were usually chased away, it was after we had eaten a fill of their fruits before the neighbors would make a jesture of concern, usually it was supper time... I remember it well. Those were some good days :p

I do, however appreciate the color of the wood and the way it darkens with age. A good tree for turning projects. Attractive wood, indeed... As for the kids in the tree and the red shirts, you put a tear in the eye of an old guy thinking of those days. What with Videogames and such, my Grandkids will never enjoys those times. :C but Turning wood is the only good thing to come from the Mulberry.

Wait...lycopene good for the heart and those of use who are all clogged up.. There is a good use for the Mulberry besides the fabulous wood. I still chop down all I find in my yard.