Mulberry lumber

[Dan McGonigle]

So I'm getting a mulberry tree taken down in my yard. I have a thought to save the trunk and have it milled into slabs. I know a sawyer who sawed a walnut tree for me last year for a very reasonable price. Anyone familiar with mulberry? Is it worth it? id probably spend about $200 and end up with more mulberry than id ever use (or have room for).

[Jeff Bartley]

I would jump on that opportunity! I had a couple boards of mulberry mixed in with a load of Osage orange a couple years ago and I really liked it. It turns a deeper honey brown than Osage and is a darker orange initially.
I look for mulberry at every small mill I visit!

[Jon Nuckles]

I had a different experience with mulberry than did Jeff, enough to wonder if there are different varieties of mulberry. I bought some kiln dried from an urban lumber dealer here in the Chicago area about 10-15 years ago. It was bright yellow when I cut into it, but did turn a medium brown within a short time. It might have gotten darker over more time; I gave the bench I made from it to a charity auction and did not see it again. The mulberry I had was fairly light in weight and not particularly strong. I had to remake a couple of parts and beef up a design I had previously made in oak to be confident it would survive. I won't look for mulberry again for my projects.

[Mel Fulks]

Jon , there are two kinds. I remember that from grammar school. The early american silkworm industry failed because the worms needed the other one. Forgot which is tasty.

[John TenEyck]

Joe, you are describing red mulberry, which I've used for a couple of projects. Yellow when first milled but turns brownish in a few months. Rather coarse grained, too. The other variety I know of is white mulberry, but I've never used any of that variety. Anyway, red mulberry might be ok for furniture work if you have it QS, or if you like the coarse grain when it's flat sawn. I milled the logs I got into thick slabs and turned them into garden furniture mostly. Red mulberry is very rot resistant and works well in outdoor applications. The frame of this bench is red mulberry, unfinished, and already turning tan. Most of the seat is black walnut - I ran out of mulberry.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/37szKr1tAcpXAxU6xNydoGhSGz-EC-96_0XPIQQvMMq1tlQDoKzEoCDtTc7y2ln0qEW92Wbvc2v7Xdo6 V2BDrxC7wb7lZQEuZPY5X0lbvPI8XV6Kt4ncGB_s7J1ecIuPJZ 9IDijCNFq1mGHCcRcg49-Jzk1BmlaFnm9TZ0XiDJt7hwzVn55vcuqVK4JkGqaoawcgvNI_r pGFyVz6Hg4qaQ16h9UQ89Abscg70G6Y9du1ysbO2N5t7Hju-r9LICj9773otLYuLZrqDf3MVu8iYP0uQr-NBGt3mLcGhSsoyW3-5YY-zNO8KPDD2FtPBSin0iNqM65IzBiGmKAhj8lr4_U25oClq9qQi6 k65Tox-iLmkcfBRZoNq6H2AP5vBqBRicoDs-AqnCB-89ZAYjjP30ma-lt_uYjZ8CinHWOoBEHZm98x6NYOYuLnGRbDd3WxEFcb94Vc2fi Ghk3qzN0QJjpeXxVTj5pbRGI8A_T5bvIwh_H-slwnbiQmse9iZ-2UinLI1uv9fxAobpsJyeEGoBmbaJS7SZUztGqG2VSWej9TYj0d dQ6gO4HtQ7pXvUgS_wkBOyN2y2aXX4hgkdGzeh4BM7iP04F_AA _uSIDkLLKeH1SYCzYwjYai6VYJzzueuvIdEly4elkJ72qTOu8X Glk5NLE9-ORff1Lb0Yk3ZA4=w800-h600-no


John

[Stan Calow]

good wood for turning.

[Mike Manning]

Nice bench John!

[Danny Hamsley]

Beautiful wood.

[Wes Ramsey]

I enjoy working with yellow mulberry, though mostly on the lathe. It's light weight betrays it's strength and excellent rot resistance. Not quite that of cedar, but very good. It is also fun to burn scraps in the fireplace. Gives quite a show!

I haven't worked with red mulberry much, but it is excellent in the smoker.

[Wade Lippman]

Jon , there are two kinds. I remember that from grammar school. The early american silkworm industry failed because the worms needed the other one. Forgot which is tasty.

Red is tasty, but not at all sweet. White is sweet, but flavorless. Neither is worth eating.

[Chris Hachet]

Nice bench John!


Agree...I need to build one like ti when i get a few more projects done.

[Jim Dwight]

I don't know which kind it was but I saw a gunstock made of mulberry once and it looked very nice. I like using wood from the yard. I have a very small piece of oak somewhere. I just cut it out of a short piece of trunk with a chain saw. crotches are particularly nice looking.