Mulberry...

[gpw]

 We have tons of Mulberry trees around here, very easy to find and harvest... never tried this wood yet , but have a nice 7' stave in the shop ...nice sapwood , sorta' light osage colored heartwood ...Anybody have any experience with making mulberry bows???

[DCM]

I've made several.  They say red is better than white.  I've used only red.  It's a predominantly heartwood tree so strip off the outer growth rings down the yellow wood for the bow's back.  I judge it to be about as dense as elm so 1 5/8" wide or better for a typical flatbow.  Like elm, it will reflex and noodle up spontaneously so I'd hog it down to bow size pretty fast (once you get it spilt and backed down) and put it on a caul to season a bit.  I'd imagine a good clean straight grained specimien with some crown would make a nice long stinny bow, like an elb.  I'd WAG 1 1/4" or less of wood would be sufficient for one of those, perhps 68" long for 50" @ 28" or more.  It will chrysal in a narrow deep design so work the whole limb.  Go for it.

[Hillbilly]

Mulberry is good wood, haven't used a lot of it but I've made a couple flatbows and an elb from it. The finished bow will be thicker for its weight than with heavier woods. Like David said, for most purposes, treat it like light osage (osage is in the Mulberry family btw) and chase a heartwood ring. The ELB I made from it has two rings of sapwood on the back with no problems.

[Pat B]

I've made nice bows from mulberry. Some with sapwood left on and some all heartwood. You will get better performance from all heartwood. Make your bow about 10% longer and wider than osage. It bends easily with dry heat and a bit of oil.      Pat

[SimonUK]

Pat, what kind of oil should we use when using dry heat?

Thanks, Simon

[gpw]

Thanks guys , I've made alot of bows , just never Mulberry...Osage is as rare as hens teeth around here, Mulberry is EVERYWHERE.. bunches on my small farm..Might as well learn to Use it ..so easy to harvest..anybody want some , come and get it...

[lowell]

I just cut a mulberry a couple weeks ago. Was surprised by the huge growth rings. I can't find an osage with any growth rings near what the mulberry had.

 Looking forward to trying it!!!

 

[Pappy]

Simon I just use cooking oil.I think Pat uses Olive oil,I'm to tight for that.I usually only use it on
white wood or Osage if I am doing some radical bends.Won't hurt but I just haven't seen the need on Osage.
   Pappy

[Hillbilly]

Crisco works fine, I'd rather apply my olive oil to a pan full of seasoned chicken, shrimp, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cashews (sorry, haven't had breakfast yet, fantasizing about food). Like Pappy, I don't usually even put oil on it unless I'm bending something severely.

[Pappy]

You the man Hillbilly,man of my on heart.
   Pappy

[gpw]

Hill, we take that to be a recipe.... sounds great, never thought about the cashews... Yummy!!!

[DCM]

Every time I hear olive oil mentioned I can't help but think of the Popeye cartoons.  LOL  I put it in everything that calls for oil in the recipe, pancakesbatter, whatever.  I save the shortening for biscuits and the veg oil for deep frying.  Have never oiled wood to bend it.

[SimonUK]

Sounds like you truely are a good cook Hillbilly!

[mullet]

  The mulberry we have down here is very heavy.I can't tell much difference between it and osage.I cut the one with the juicy fruit.I've noticed that the mulberry I got from Hillbilly last year is real light in comparison.Steve is it a different variety?

[cowboy]

gpw: I've never tried mullberry myself (well to be honest) haven't tried much of anything yet - but will.


Hey Steve: I wrote that recipe down, sounded too good to pass up. Am going to giver a try when I get in.