Help with Black Locust wood

[Swampman]

I had the fortune of getting 3 large black locust trees from a friends yard.  I am quickly finding out that this amount of wood comes with a price though.  The temperature the last 2 days have been in the 90's and I don't have time to split it all up and remove the sapwood (What I have split so far is checking badly).  I am planning on taking 4 or 5 of the largest logs to a person I know that has a sawmill to get them cut into lumber.  My question is how should I get them cut so the lumber will make the best bows.  I am thinking of getting them quarter sawn, but I am not sure.  Any help will be appreciated. 

Thanks,

Mike

[DustinDees]

there are differing opinions on this. i personally look for quartersawn lumber to make bows from. as far as getting the most useable bows from a log.... splitting will give you the best grain, i have no idea which way to saw them to get the most usable wood. are you sealing the ends as soon as you cut them? or are they checking and cracking from the split side of the log? most likely someone with more expertise in this subject will chime in, as i have little experience in seasoning wood. best of luck.

Dustin D

[TRACY]

Did you seal the ends? How about the back after removing the bark and sapwood? That may be the cause. I seal as soon as it hits the ground or it will start checking. Make sure your sealing your wood properly before you go to the extra work of the sawmill. Good luck

Tracy

[snedeker]

BL in quartersawn form is great for hard-backed bows but not so great for selfbows.  Flat sawn BL works great backed with silk.  You might have some sawn flat, some quarter sawn or bias grain, and you might work out a deal where they take off some of the log sections for you to split for stave selfbows.  YOu can spray some insect repellent on to ward off borers in the meantime.

Dave

[smokeu]

oK... i feel your pain on this!! I have recently gotten some info on here about the BL unfortunatly there is no easy way to go about it or that I have learned yet. The best I have found so far is to split it hack off the sapwood with a drawknife as quickly and cleanly as possible. The first few rings of heartwood arent that great in my little experience anyway so i havent worried about damage to the first ring or so. I have made sure the back is moderatly clean and seal the whole thing with thinned out wood glue ( just painted it on). And stored indoors in my house.

Checking...I have battled this problem since i have been cutting BL but have started to get some to turn out also.
My goal is to get the stave to dry as slow as possible for the first few weeks hence the sealing the whole thing. As i too am always short on time to work on wood. When I would work on a stave such as chasing a ring I would work a little and then reseal after i was done, even for a day because it would still check. I think that once it dries out some u can let it dry more normaly.

So best of luck and feel free to PM me I can pass on what others have shared with me. And i sure some others will chime in soon too.

Mike

[sailordad]

well ifn you wrent 4+ hours (one way) away i would offer to drive down and help
split it,for a few staves for my self of course.
but now with gas @ $2.50 a gl,thats not gonna happen,sorry man


by the way,i am in st cloud

[richpierce]

I don't find large logs to be good for bowmaking where the sapwood has to be removed, for chasing a ring etc.  Generally with large logs the rings are quite small on the outside.  I would pass up a 20" osage for a 12" diameter osage, same for locust.  I've never made a board bow so don't know how that would work with BL.

[Swampman]

Thanks everyone for the information.  Just FYI, I ended up with about 18 logs of different sizes.  I have split the best of them and the ends are sealed.  I haven't removed the bark or sapwood yet.  It is just way too much wood for me to get all taken care of right away.  That is why I am going to take the 4 to 5 largest logs and get sawn into lumber.  I figure if they don't work for bows, at least I will have some good lumber.  I think i will get them sawn in a variety of ways so I can experiment some. Also, I did seal the ends as soon as they were cut, but the 97 degree weather we had the other day was too much for the wood and some of the ends started checking. 

Sailordad, if you ever make it down this way, look me up.  I have a variety of wood waiting to be bows without much time to work on them.  I would be happy to give you some of it. 

Thanks again everyone.

Mike 

[Woodland Roamer]

Mike, I've cut quite a bit of locust and I find no need at all to split it all into staves or remove sapwood as soon as it's cut. Just split the logs in half or quarter them and leave the bark on and store them that way so you can work on them as you have time. For that matter you don't have to split them right away if they are small enough to handle. With the bark on you don't have to worry about the back checking. Cut them long and seal the ends and if you have some checking there you have plenty of length to cut off later. I also agree with Rich, 8-12 inch diamater is primo size for locust, at least in my area. Mike Yancey wrote a great article in PA magazine a few months ago about seasoning wood, check that out if you can.

Alan

[El Destructo]

Mike...if you just split them and leave the Bark on....for Gods Sake spray them down with Borax or some other Bug Kille...or the Powderpost Beetles will eat it all up...and I build Paddle Bows....and I find that for an Unbacked Bow...Quartersawn or Edge Ringed is the Way to go..... although Decrowned will work fine if you back them too......

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[George Tsoukalas]

Like Woodland Roamer said just leave the bark on. Split them up when you are ready. Seal the ends before the stave hits the ground.  If you cut them into boards the sapwood will still be on them which is not the best situation for BL. Jawge