Author Topic: low elevation mulberry in temperate climate any good?  (Read 2451 times)

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Offline Piddler

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Re: low elevation mulberry in temperate climate any good?
« Reply #15 on: February 20, 2019, 04:44:24 pm »
Glad this thread is going. Another question is how long should it need to dry. Don't have any meter or anything. Summer is coming so will that speed things up.
Looks like I'm going to cut (what I think is) a Mulberry tree down in a couple days. Some guys clearing some property so I stopped to look at what I thought was a horse apple but it's not so my next guess is Mulberry. Researching still but about 95% sure.
"My goal in life is to try and be the kind of person my dog thinks I am"

Offline Pat B

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Re: low elevation mulberry in temperate climate any good?
« Reply #16 on: February 20, 2019, 06:36:40 pm »
I'd say to let it season for a year. You might be able to get a bow sooner but the longer the better.
 Mulberry has a white milky sap, similar to osage. They are related.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Limbit

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Re: low elevation mulberry in temperate climate any good?
« Reply #17 on: February 20, 2019, 10:36:29 pm »
Yes, what Pat said, season it for a year. The stuff likes to move around a bit as it dries. I was making a paddle bow out of some one year and had cut out and pretillered the wood before putting on the sinew. Everything looked good. I put it in the corner while I pounded out my sinew for a few weeks and when I went back to it, one of the tips had moved completely out of string line. Luckily I made it a bit wider and longer than need be, but it kept on moving even after this and now it is unusable. I remove the bark now, stave it out into thicker staves and let it season for at least a year. I write the date on the top just to be sure I remember when it was cut. It'll move,  but after it goes through a few months of dry weather it stabilises. You can use mulberry for just about any bow design like osage, but, the plus is that it is lighter than osage. Loves a heat treatment too. I'm using white mulberry, so it may be a bit different than the red you guys have.

Offline Dante_F

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Re: low elevation mulberry in temperate climate any good?
« Reply #18 on: February 21, 2019, 07:20:18 am »
ok that sounds good, now im gonna ask a pretty obvious question, so osage has good tension and compression so hows mulberries, im thinking if you can use it in the same design they must have similar properties

Offline Pat B

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Re: low elevation mulberry in temperate climate any good?
« Reply #19 on: February 21, 2019, 08:25:08 am »
Mulberry is considerably lighter than osage so like I said before make your mulberry bow about 10% wider and longer than a similar osage bow. Mulberry can make a better performing bow because it is physically lighter than osage yet has good performance qualities.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Dante_F

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Re: low elevation mulberry in temperate climate any good?
« Reply #20 on: February 21, 2019, 08:46:50 am »
ok thanks so a little wider and longer thanks