Thoughts and Ideas on Locust

[JonW]

I have made several bows from Black Locust and three recently. I am wondering about the stigma placed on Locust for chrysals. I am not a master bowyer by any means, but I have yet to have Locust chrysal on me. Am I lucky so far? I would normally answer yes to that question. Again I don't claim to be the "Tiller Master" here but I believe I have something working with Locust and want to throw the idea around so others may be less intimidated by what I consider to be a fine bow wood. I have come to believe that it's all in the eye to floor tillering. If you really focus on a good floor tiller you can go right to brace. At least that is what I have been doing. I have found this to be valuable in hitting target weight also. I say all of this to open a good discussion and hopefully see some more Locust bows posted.

[toomanyknots]

I have come to believe that it's all in the eye to floor tillering. If you really focus on a good floor tiller you can go right to brace. At least that is what I have been doing. I have found this to be valuable in hitting target weight also.

I second every bit of that! I do the same, but with longstring tillering. And by longstring I mean the shortest string I can get on the bow without actually being braced, usually I have to bend the limbs to get the string on but it stretches out a bit to zero brace afterwards. A lot of the time I can go straight from longstring tillering to full brace to full draw! I use a mirror though and am really picky about tiller. And using the shortest longstring I can possibly use I think has avoided whip tiller for me I believe. The other half of the time I still have to finish tillering out to full draw, but for the most part I believe that good floor tillering early on (or longstring like me) is in fact essential to getting a good bow in the end.

[Slackbunny]

Floor tiller is the critical point for me. If I can get that bow to a good brace well above my target weight, then there is a very good chance that I will be successful. I rarely make mistakes past this point. Almost all of my mistakes come during the process of floor-tillering and in the steps beforehand. Once I got it working on the tree, I'm golden.

[Carson (CMB)]

I think Locust is one of those woods that grows everywhere, so there ends up being a lot of variation in the growing conditions.  I have a feeling it might be the super fast growing locust from wet conditions, like here in Western Oregon, that are prone to fretting and have given locust a bit of a reputation.  Just a hunch I have based on cutting only one piece of locust, and have never made a bow from the wood, so a hunch based on almost no experience with the stuff.  Curious what others that have experience think of the idea. 

[Joec123able]

I've been doing that lately to just going from floor tiller to brace

[blackhawk]

Here's my two cents....I've made quite a bit of locust bows as well,and I've used locust from Michigan,Indiana,Ohio,Pennsylvania, and soon to be  North Carolina(ruling out specific geographics are weaker than others) and I have yet to experience any fretting issues with black locust....the key is proper execution of correct design with seasoned wood ...simple as that....if your getting frets all along the whole limb its locusts way of telling you that your design is incorrect and not wide or long enough or both...if its localized to certain areas then you have a hinge there of some sort and the load is not evenly distributed well enough thru out the whole limb....I've used locust that came from the same tree that two other well known and accomplished bowyers(won't say names) that they experienced fretting all along there limbs and mine did not,yet they came from the same tree...again its locusts way of saying I wasn't designed correctly...but those guys will tell you the woods junk and locust will handle high stressed designs if the limbs are made wide and thin enough...locust loves to be wide thinned limbs....another important step in the building process is tempering locust...but you have to be careful of not to over cook it and turn the belly to dark..it can make the wood brittle and tension weak so to say...I like to temper it just past once it turns color then move onto the next spot...

If made right locust makes a mean casting bow,with excellent early string tension and bend resistance,which is one of my favorite properties of the wood...I love a piece of wood that wants to fight me back as I pull it

Black locust has been and still is my second favorite wood,and rightfully so

[half eye]

Man, if ya got locust and it's workin for ya then who cares what random thoughts are? NA's used what they had or could get and made it work. Looks like yer makin some good bows so what the heck is wrong with just keepin on?

If your experiences are good, keep workin it. I got no advice except to try things for yourself and that way if ya come out prejudiced you come by it honest.
rich

[TRACY]

I've not had fret issues with black locust as I've heard numerous times. I admit i was timid to even cut black locust in the beginning because of this reason.I agree with the tillering process being more of a factor than the wood itself. I've had hickory fret a few times and could tell it was my fault trying to get the limbs too thin when I first started making bows. I'm working a black locust stave right now that has some flaws but I'm not worried about fretting because its black locust- operator error if it does in my case.

To summarize what Rich said, if ain't broke don't fix it


Tracy

[Badly Bent]

I agree that getting locust bending evenly from the get go on the string and keeping the stress even throughout the tillering process is important with all bow wood but probably more so with locust. That is likely why I've had good and bad luck with locust. Often I'll get a bow bending poorly initially, (not intentionally), then have to try and correct flat spots before I've messed up the whole works. Always learning here. I've had some chrysal issues  on 3 of the 7 locust bows made. Also broke a couple more while tillering.
My best locust bow so far was made slowly while I constantly checked thickness taper and increased draw length in small increments
while exercising the limbs often before pulling an inch or less at a time further toward full draw. This one was well seasoned wood and
came from a belly split and also just seemed more dense than some other locust I've worked.
I think anyone that has locust available should give a try and keep trying it even if your first attempt fails because in my opinion it makes a super bow when you get it right. I've got some good looking locust cut a few months ago and am having a hard time with
waiting for it to season. Can't hardly wait to have a crack at it.

[CalRecurve]

I agree, Locust is a fine wood and it likes heat tempering with a good design and tiller. I have backed the ones I have made with Bamboo or hickory.
John