Mulberry tree

[tony tomlinson]

My daughter is having a huge mulberry tree taken down - any experience or tips for turning mulberry

Thankyou

[John K Jordan]

My daughter is having a huge mulberry tree taken down - any experience or tips for turning mulberry

Thankyou

Mulberry can be beautiful, a rich golden brown. It's ring porous, not diffuse porous like cherry or bradford pear, but not at all difficult to turn. Harder and heavier than, say, cherry - closer to bradford pear.
The look of the end grain is often confused with osage orange or black locust.

I've never turned it green, just dry. If I had a big one come down I'd definitely get some. I'd personally cut it into turning blanks for drying. If you want to turn green, remember the wood will stay in much better shape if you leave it in the longest log sections you can haul and seal the ends. Keep in the shade and off the ground. Then cut off chunks when ready to turn.

How huge is "huge"? Any chance you live in East TN? :)

JKJ

[tony tomlinson]

Thanks for your help John. The tree is about 3 foot across the the trunk. The arborist who is going to cut it estimates it to be (he's guessing} well over 100 years old. Sorry John I'm in Portland, Or.

[John K Jordan]

Thanks for your help John. The tree is about 3 foot across the the trunk. The arborist who is going to cut it estimates it to be (he's guessing} well over 100 years old. Sorry John I'm in Portland, Or.

That IS huge! Some trees that big are hollow in the middle but if so you can still usually get some good blanks. However, mulberry is naturally resistant to decay so it may well be fine all the way through!.

Road trip! A 10' log of that could weigh about 2 tons - just throw it in the truck and come visit. :D

JKJ

[David Dockstader]

When it is cut green, it is about the color of Mountain Dew. It does turn browner as it dries, but fresh cut is REALLY an interesting color. If you do a road trip to visit John with a log, swing my Chicago and drop some of the larger branches off at my place. ;)

[tony tomlinson]

Thanks David. I'll just nail a couple of stamps to it and take it down to the PostOffice. Maybe there's a woodturner working there today.

[Reed Gray]

Gee Tony that is a huge mulberry. Most non native trees in the Northwet tend to grow very big due to mild climate and lots of rain. I am sure all the turners up there in Portland will help you dispose of it...

robo hippy

[Dave Mount]

Mulberry turns nicely green, cuts pretty cleanly. Dry it's fairly dense and hard, a titch below hickory but well below osage orange. Initial color can vary from bright greenish yellow to sulfur yellow to intensely golden. Ages to a warm brown, which I actually rather like. Sapwood is cream colored fresh, grows more distinct with age, as it just yellows a little while the heartwood darkens markedly. Don't have a bowl handy, but here's the bottom of a small box I made probably 20 years ago, which shows a snip of sapwood. It is ring porous, but the color of the earlywood (porous part) doesn't contrast much with the latewood, thus different from say oak or ash, and the grain is therefore quieter than in those. Although the contrast in the sapwood is not so pronounced when fresh, it is a wood where the contrast of the heartwood and sapwood (after aging) can be used to great effect, as in walnut.

I think you'll like it; just proceed with the knowledge that the somewhat shocking initial color is ephemeral.

Best,

Dave

461289

[Dave Mount]

Found a picture of fresh mulberry, a sphere in progress. The color of this piece was not as vibrant as some, plus the picture was taken under LED light of a fairly cool temperature, making it appear less colorful.

Dave

461293

[Richard Coers]

I have no use for mulberry, not even burl. I cut some big burls and turned a bowl. Really pretty nice, but in a year it was a muddy brown color and from 3' away you couldn't even see it had burl figure. It all just had the same muddy color. Lots of cracking if dried as a slab, if it's not cracked in the log already.

[David Delo]

Tony,

Back in March I got a couple just cut Mulberry logs from a local tree service dump site. First and only time working with it so limited experience. Don't think I'll make a point of chasing after it but it's okay to turn wet. It's heavy so working with bigger pieces can be a challenge. Mine were 14"-15" logs. Kind of mushy versus nice long curls that I get with maple & cherry. Nice color & grain but my pieces did have a few inclusions that I had to work around but overall was a nice addition to the stable of drying pieces that I'll get to next year. I made a video for our club during the lockdown of processing one of the pieces. Here's a couple video links to some of the project.

https://youtu.be/2B-8XveGndI

https://youtu.be/m0uYQ5UofdM

https://youtu.be/f129bIOuDz8

[tony tomlinson]

Reed I'm not sure what everything will look like but out of a tree that size I'm sure I could save a few pieces for you for when you next get to Portland.I'm not a very experienced turner so if I find some wood I could save for you I'll need to ask for your thoughts as to the best way to preserve it for you. I've attended a couple of your demonstrations at the local woodturning clubs and always come away with tons of good info. Maybe this could be a little pay back

[russell lusthaus]

mulberry make a real nice bow, if you were ever inclined to try and make a self bow.

[BOB OLINGER]

I don't do a lot of turning, but this caught my eye. I've never turned green wood. I may have some green mulberry available and would consider turning a few ice cream scoop handles. If turned green, is there concern about them cracking during the drying process? Also, what's the protocol for finishing green wood?

[Reed Gray]

If I want to turn larger diameter spindles and let them dry, turn the cylinder, put a 1/4 round profile, and maybe a 1/4 inch radius, on the ends, and slop a bunch of titebond on the ends, making sure to cover the rounded over ends. Sharp edges, just like on bowls, can lead to uneven stresses when drying and cause cracks. All green wood can crack as it dries, some more so than others. Not sure about mulberry.

Not positive, but aren't mulberry and osage related? Other than both being trees.....

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

...
Not positive, but aren't mulberry and osage related? Other than both being trees.....
...

:)

No, the biggest relationship I know is the two can be hard to distinguish by the end grain. Throw Black Locust into that group as well, looks even more like Mulberry than Osage. However, the Locust's are easily distinguished by their bright green fluorescence under UV light.

Osage is "Maclura pomifera"
The Mulberries are "Morus", spp

JKJ

[russell lusthaus]

Mulberry and Osage are similar in character self bow wise. Like pecan and hickory are. Can't comment on use for turning.