Mulberry wood

[willstewart]

I have acquired some Mulberry wood - what we would call 'black' Mulberry I think (the fruiting one as opposed to the 'white' Mulberry used for growing silk moths).  Discussions are a bit vague but say it is good for turning though there are comments about the yellow sapwood darkening quickly - though these are US comments about 'Red' Mulberry which MAY be the same as black.

Anyone with experience here?

[seventhdevil]

mulberry is excellent for turning once dry. the sapwood is white not yellow and can be the start of splits. if it is a largish chunk the it will split if not rough turned now and still may split anyway. mulberry is renowned for wanting to split.

the golden yellow heartwood will darken to brown within a few years if left in the sun. there is a good exposure difference at the bottom of this web page.
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/mulberry.htm

[David Buskell]

Will, I have turned a few pieces of mulberry - local trees from a nearby private residence, so good provenance.

Turns well and takes a good finish. Punters also like the colour and so it tends to sell well.

David

[Bryan Milham]

Good and strong in spindle form as well, I make lace bobbins from small offcuts.

[willstewart]

Thanks for all the comments!

The heartwood already looks fairly brown - but it is said to darken quite fast.

Again this is presumably black Mulberry - is that what you have used?

[John Plater]

Hello all,
I cannot help but agree with all that has been said. I once bought an entire tree off of an online auction site and made lots of bowls. I turned green to a finished thickness, air dried and then sanded and finished. Some minor cracks but the entire length of the tree had a star shake running through the heart and I left natural edges not so noticeable. Mine was a mass of small burrs so very attractive. I did some larger gallery pieces and lots of smaller craft show pieces ranging from £15 to £350 and all sold very readily. Look up the James I story as well, the customers love it !!
If you are going to store the timber to dry it keep an eye out for insect attack, another woodturner lost a lot of their stock of mulberry. Maybe it is sweet and attractive to the insects as the fruit is to children and adults alike !!
ATB John

[David Buskell]

THis is part of the stash I had. Some nice logs when we first visited the site but then bad weather delayed harvesting.

Bowl shows colour and of course the shakes in the wood.

Nice stuff, wish I could get some more, although I hear there was some Burr Mulberry down Hastings way recently.

[willstewart]

One thought from all of you - my (black) mulberry wood is in fact bright yellow, both as new and dried and polished (see pics).  So this is different from the white mulberry (silkworm stuff) and the US red mulberry (the colour refers to the fruit of course but the trees are also different, leaf shape etc.).  The people talking about the wood darkening rapidly all seem to be US talking about red mulberry.  But your bowl looks pretty much amber rather than my yellow.  Was it always thus?

[David Buskell]

Will, my mulberry had already been cut for a wehile. We marked up the stock we wanted to harvest and then it rained! Delays in getting the timber cut and out probably altered the colouration.

One benefit I had was seeing the trees in situ so I could verify the provenance.

The batch was split between 2 or 3 turners and we all had different variations in colour.

I don't know about the different types of Mulberry you mention, perhaps Steve Earis can help on this?

David

[seventhdevil]

I don't know about the different types of Mulberry you mention, perhaps Steve Earis can help on this?

David

i can help a bit.

so far as i know the timber from any Morus species does not really vary that much and you would need the leaf to identify it past the Genus of Morus and it will simply be down to growing conditions and the genetics of the tree in question that mean the timber may or may not darken quickly or even that much over long periods of time.

[willstewart]

Thanks!

[John Plater]

I have used black mulberry from four different sources. All have been yellow when first worked and have retained some of that colour if kept away from bright light. In direct sunlight the wood will go to a chestnut brown quite readily. I obtained some white mulberry from a different source and that was not as striking a grain pattern or colour. A bland biege/strawlike colour. Working characteristics the same for both timbers.
ATB John

[willstewart]

John - thanks very much! great info

[John Plater]

You are more than welcome, happy to help !
ATB John

[yasharsad]

Hi
Great information thanks all for sharing.
I am looking for mulberry wood in sizes 8 X 8 X 15 inches (it has to be cut bark to pith) . Is there any suggestions where I can findit?
Yashar