first black locust bow

[fishfinder401]

this is the first black locust bow i will be building and i was first wondering if it is fine to split a tree that has dried naturally for a few years in the middle of winter, secondly what design would be best to try to get it to 100lbs or more, and last is there anything i should be careful about with black locust
i cant wait to get time to split it, the tree is about 2ft across so i should get allot of possible bows out of it

[JW_Halverson]

Is it standing dead?  Or has it been cut and has been lying on the ground for these "several years" you mentioned?

If this thing hasn't been bug riddled or has fungus invading the wood, you got a steaming heap of work ahead of you!!!  Wow, I can only imagine how much fun it will be to split out, hehe.

[fishfinder401]

its been lying down, but its only been around 2 or 3 years since we cut it down, so there shouldn't be to much damage, as it is most lickly laying on a bed of small trees, grape vines and who knows what, i cant wait to start, just built my first Osage bow and i need to get some wood to make another with

[JW_Halverson]

There is no reason to worry about what season you should split, some people are concerned however about what season to cut the tree. 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that the borers didn't get into your log, be a pity to lose it at this stage.  But then, If you got the horsepower and a good drawknife, you can always keep ripping off growthrings until you get past borer damage if it's there.

[fishfinder401]

the only reason that i was worried about splitting in winter is i wasnt sure if it being too cold could make the wood too brittle, but other than that i think ill be good, we don't have that bad of a problem with bugs making holes unless its there for a long time, would it be best to use the larger rings or the thinner ones, they range from around 1/4 inch to 1/32 inch thick, not sure of the right balance
looks like ill have to break out the slitting maul, wedges and saw soon, yay hard physical labor in freezing snowy weather, do you have any idea about the shape of bow that works best for black locust for a 100+lb bow?

[tetaxidermy]

My personal opinion wood splits better the colder it is,seems to work that way for me anyway. Just slit out two big logs, they are a lot of work, but a lot of staves in them if you are stubborn enough to get them.

[fishfinder401]

i cant wait to split them, i have a cross section i can post a pic of soon so someone can give me an opinion of which grain to use, they go from like 1/32 inch to 1/4inch