Free Mulberry

[Minnesota Bill]

Hey everybody.  Any advise on working with mulberry?  A friend told me yesterday that he had a mulberry tree go down in our early May snow storm.  He had cut up all the twisted pieces but had some for me to look at.  Today I picked up a 4 foot piece and a 6 1/2 foot piece.  I was thinking billets for the short piece and was going to wait and see how the longer one split.  Well it split pretty straight, looks like maybe a 1 piece bow or two from it.  Anyway the bark was just begging to be peeled off just like white wood in the early summer.  So off it came.  Now my question, do I take the sapwood now or later, or leave it like a white wood bow?

[Dan Landis]

I usually take the sapwood off right away if I have time.  Then seal the ends and back.

[Pat B]

Treat it like osage but make your bow 10% bigger, length and width.

[Minnesota Bill]

Thanks guys.  Has anyone tried using it with the sapwood on?

[John Scifres]

The problem with sapwood on osage or mulberry is that it is chock full of...well...sap.  It will dry disproportionally quicker than the rest when you take off the bark and don't seal it well.  Drying means shrinking.  Disproportionate drying means wood pulling away from wood which means cracking.  So it tends to check quickly and badly when you pull off the bark and don't seal it.  That's why it is usually removed.

You can leave it on but there is some risk.