Mulberry for turning?
 

A friend has had a large, 30+ year old mulberry tree fall down during a
recent storm, and I'll be there tomorrow with a couple of jugs of
anchorseal. :)

How is mulberry for turning? Any things to look for? Oh, and what is the
best way to handle green wood for bowl/cup/mug turning? I remember some
folks posting URL's for some sites with good advice.

Thank you again,
Phil

Copernicus Skygazer wrote:
A friend has had a large, 30+ year old mulberry tree fall down during a
recent storm, and I'll be there tomorrow with a couple of jugs of
anchorseal. :)
How is mulberry for turning? Any things to look for? Oh, and what is the
best way to handle green wood for bowl/cup/mug turning? I remember some
folks posting URL's for some sites with good advice.

Lots of fun. If you do any grilling, save your shavings for flavor and
tinder. Starts out a golden color and turns brown and cream over time.
Seal it ASAP, BS it into blanks and reseal them. Turn it green and
finish it as soon as it comes off the lathe. Free wood is good wood.
Follow my sig link to the AAw site and then to the local chapter. Join
both, you'll find lots of help. Where are you, there's a good chance
that someone is near you.

Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use: daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.patinatools.org

I got a lot of green stuff, and it turned well. Made a vase, a bowl
and a really oversized candle pedestal to accomodate 3" candles.

The wood was creamy colored, turned yellow (like pee) and stayed that
way. It has been that color for 6 years now.

The bowl split to pieces, even after all manner of good drying
protocols were followed.

Robert

I have tried to turn bowls out of Mulberry several times over the past
few years. It is fun to turn BUT I have never been able to stop if
from cracking. It either cracks before I can get it on the lathe or it
cracks while it is on the lathe or it cracks after its off the lathe.

Ted

Ted wrote:
I have tried to turn bowls out of Mulberry several times over the past
few years. It is fun to turn BUT I have never been able to stop if
from cracking. It either cracks before I can get it on the lathe or it
cracks while it is on the lathe or it cracks after its off the lathe.

Repeat, LDD, finish immediately after turning.
Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use: daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.patinatools.org

Hi Phil

I have turned quite a bit of mulberry, it's a nice wood to turn and no
problems turning it, it's a golden yellow with a very light sap wood
when just turned, it will turn darker in time and the sap wood stays
lighter, I got a small bowl sitting here beside me on the desk and when
I pick it up I still see that golden shimmer in there, (it's 4 years old).
The only problem you will run into is drying it, the sap wood shrinks a
lot more than the heart wood and likes to (will) split if you don't slow
down the drying, ( really slow it down the initial few weeks, by
bagging it in a paper bag and keep it out of the draft and heat ) don't
keep a heavy foot or tenon on when roughed out, cutting off the sap wood
helps to, but I like to keep the sap wood on my turnings, I like the
combination.
I have no special problems with storing the mulberry, I keep the logs as
long as I can handle, seal the ends and cut off what I need when I need.
Last tree that I got is still partially waiting in my shop, and I split
some of the 6 to 8 inch thick branch wood into 2X2s or what ever I could
get out of them, to use for some small spindle turnings whenever (if
ever)G.

I have a few pic's in my albums of mulberry I think, have a look if you
like.

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum12.html

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Copernicus Skygazer wrote:
A friend has had a large, 30+ year old mulberry tree fall down during a
recent storm, and I'll be there tomorrow with a couple of jugs of
anchorseal. :)

How is mulberry for turning? Any things to look for? Oh, and what is the
best way to handle green wood for bowl/cup/mug turning? I remember some
folks posting URL's for some sites with good advice.

Thank you again,
Phil

Hello,

I have turned quite a bit of Mulberry and like it... It looses its yellow
colour over time and turns a golden/brownish colour. It is well behaved in
my experience (I prefer to boil it when roughing it out) with few
challenges. One of the things that rears its head comes when sanding... The
summer and spring wood densities feature a large disparity and thus, can
create sanding difficulties if proper protocols are not observed.

If you're careful when power and hand sanding by using a firmer foam backing
pad, you should be ok. Less dense pads can create a washboard effect on the
surface, not entirely undesirable if you're trying for an artistic piece,
but a nightmare if you're not after this effect. Another challenge can
manifest itself with wild grain areas like crotch feather... It can be a wee
bit ill-behaved when working these areas with a gouge, so you must endeavour
to keep a freshly sharpened gouge and use light cuts to obtain the proper
cut.

All in all, a magnificent timber when you sum it all up. Although others
report drying difficulties with this species, I find none when it is boiled
according to my standard boiling protocols. If you have any questions,
please do not hesitate to contact me. Take care and all the best to you and
yours!


On 7/27/05 4:22 AM, in article , "Copernicus
Skygazer" wrote:


A friend has had a large, 30+ year old mulberry tree fall down during a
recent storm, and I'll be there tomorrow with a couple of jugs of
anchorseal. :)

How is mulberry for turning? Any things to look for? Oh, and what is the
best way to handle green wood for bowl/cup/mug turning? I remember some
folks posting URL's for some sites with good advice.

Thank you again,
Phil

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