This small Mulberry bowl is mostly of sentimental value since it was turned from wood sourced from one of two backyard Mulberry trees from my childhood home. I’ve worked with Mulberry in larger sizes from other locations so the experience was not completely new to me.
My Dad gave me this blank not long ago. It’s finished size is diminutive at ~4.25″ x ~2″.
Mulberry Dish Interior
I find Mulberry to be an attractive wood with a special yellowish green heartwood and a highly contrasting yellow-white sapwood. This piece is enhanced by the presence of both heart and sap woods that create a nice contrast.
Mulberry naturally features a high luster and shine once finely sanded.
Mulberry is also quite hard, about 15% harder than both Hard Maple, White Ash, and Oak but about 11% softer than Shagbark Hickory.
Mulberry cuts quite cleanly with the grain but the cross grain areas tend to lift fibers significantly. The hardness of the wood makes these areas very difficult to sand smooth so be prepared to go through a shocking amount of sandpaper in the attempt. That said, the final natural sheen and shine is worth the extra effort.
Mulberry Dish Side View
All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck, while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. Final finish is Shellawax.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!