• July 2025 Turning Challenge: Turn a Multi-axis Weed Pot! (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to James Seyfried for "NE Red Oak II" being selected as Turning of the Week for July 21, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Anyone know what kind of tree?

Joined
Jun 2, 2021
Messages
261
Likes
607
Location
Kingsville, ON
Wondering if anyone can ID this leaf from a tree down the street from me. Very green waxy leaf. Here are some pics. Thanks ahead of time.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4328 Medium.jpeg
    IMG_4328 Medium.jpeg
    107.4 KB · Views: 19
  • IMG_4329 Medium.jpeg
    IMG_4329 Medium.jpeg
    107.9 KB · Views: 20
This leaf does look like it could be mulberry, see definition attached.

How To Identify Mulberry Leaves

Mulberry leaves are staggered in an alternate pattern along a branch. They are rarely symmetrical with oval two lobes or fleur-de-lys like three lobes.

Veins radiate from the stem with serrated edges on glossy green leaves. There is no uniform shape, and the lobes are unbalanced.

The black mulberry has a short heart-shaped leaf. The red mulberry has rough leaves with pointed lobes.
 
The mulberry that I have turned is very yellow but will turn a very deep brown when exposed to UV.
Yea they will, I turned quite a lot of Mulberry, here is a set that I turned for my son that are used as personal salad bowl by them.

But the sapwood stays white as you can see.

Mulberry personal salad bowls.jpg

Mulberry logs
Mulberry logs with bark on.jpg
 
Last edited:
Here is a example of the color change. The bottom of the vase was not exposed to uv so still shows some yellow on the wedges, while the side has been exposed and shows the darker color. The finish is lacquer gloss. It was not spray finished until a color change took place.mulberryChg.jpg
 
Just yesterday I was testing different types of wood to see how they would react to fuming with ammonia.

Looks like the ammonia speeds up the process of turning mulberry to a dark brown. I really like the color. Here is a before and after pic.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0186.jpeg
    IMG_0186.jpeg
    447.3 KB · Views: 17
What does that mean?
I just meant that I ammonia fumed this piece of wood overnight. I put some 10% ammonia in a glass dish, and suspended the piece of wood over the ammonia. The ammonia vapor (fumes) reacts with the tannins in the wood and turns the wood a dark shade. The longer you leave the wood in the ammonia, the darker it will get, in general. This process works well with some woods, but doesn't with others (depends on the wood's tannin content). White Oak is the classic timber, but cherry, walnut, chestnut, etc... also work well.
 
I just meant that I ammonia fumed this piece of wood overnight. I put some 10% ammonia in a glass dish, and suspended the piece of wood over the ammonia. The ammonia vapor (fumes) reacts with the tannins in the wood and turns the wood a dark shade. The longer you leave the wood in the ammonia, the darker it will get, in general. This process works well with some woods, but doesn't with others (depends on the wood's tannin content). White Oak is the classic timber, but cherry, walnut, chestnut, etc... also work well.
Thank you. I was familiar with the use of CA to raise fingerprints but I'd never heard of fuming wood before, but then again I'm brand new to this.
 
I watched one hand plane maker, Stavros Gakos, of Poland make a plane out of 'smoked' black locust. I googled it and couldn't really find it for anything but veneers. No clue as to how they could get that torrified reaction all the way through a solid block of wood. Maybe it was left in at low temps for a long time..... I know the ammonia fuming works great with oak.

robo hippy
 
Back
Top