mulberry

[bigfish]

any one here ever used mulberry for bows as i just cut some

[M-P]

I've never used it yet, but it is considered a great bow wood by many.  It's a relative of osage orange and works much like a slightly less dense version of osage orange.    I've got a couple of staves I'm going to try.

If you haven't sealed the cut ends yet you need to do that soon.
Ron

[TRACY]

Yes. I usually build it wider limbed than Osage and longer(60"+) with good results. Take your time on tiller and it should work fine.

Tracy

[Matt S.]

Yes, Mulberry will make a great bow. I personally haven't had the pleasure of working that wood yet but I've seen one of gmc's mulberry bows in action and it was a sweet shooter!

[Pat B]

Mulberry makes a great bow. Make it about 10% bigger than a typical osage bow and you should be fine.

[lowell]

I made my first from mulberry and posted it here in Jan.  Here is the link to it....

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,30199.msg399701.html#msg399701


  I liked working with it, second maybe only to osage.

[coaster500]

from lowell ... "I made my first from mulberry"

X2 ...  It took a bunch of abuse from a newby and didn't break, good stuff

56" bendy handle (only a tad over 30#s)

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c210/coaster500/Bow%20projects/?action=view&current=Mulberrystavebow001-1.mp4

[Pat B]

 The main purpose of tillering, whether it be with osage or mulberry or any other bow wood is to get a good even bend. If you can do that on your first bow, no matter what weight you hit, you have succeeded. I think too many beginners try too hard to make their first bow the best ever instead of learning the process. You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk. Same here! Learn to make bows that that have limbs that bend evenly and together first, no matter what the final weight comes out to.
   Once you get the bending worked out in your brain you can work on hitting the weight you are aiming for. Proper tiller is the main concern of a wood bowyer. The weight thing will work itself out as you get familiar with the process.

[EricWard]

i cut some mulberry back in the summer and getting ready to cut more i know it checks like crazy Just wondering does this stuff need to season or just dry like white wood before working?

[Pat B]

Eric, all bow woods perform better if they are seasoned. Mulberry will dry faster than osage because it is less dense. You will just see how it works and make a judgement call as you go.

[gmc]

Mulberry is one of the finer bow woods in my book- hands down the fastest wood that I've ever used. It has its quirks like any other wood, but if treated right will be a contender for the best bow in your rack. As already mentioned, it does need to be a little wider than Osage because of its light density, but will take less set for your effort and will perform right beside or even a little better than the heavy weights.

Bottom line, what are you waiting for?

[bigfish]

not really a new guy to bow building just never used this wood and hurt my back to boot while cutting so i will make a bow from this wood thinking of going sinker for a year or two on it