Black locusts bow

[Selfbowman]

Steve would 69” be long enough? It’s 2-3/8 wide at fades.

[bassman211]

Black locust can be your best friend, or your worst enemy when it comes to building a bow with it. Early on, and a lot my tillering fault the first black locust log I cut staves from either broke on the back , or ended up with belly frets.  2nd log I found laying along side the road with no center in it. It was dense as h111, and to heavy to carry to my truck, so I split it on the spot. I got 4 nice bows from that log. No frets, and no broken backs. Thought I had it all figured out. 3rd log was a bust too. Just like any other wood. Some logs are good for bow making ,and others not so much with in the same species.

[Badger]

Steve would 69” be long enough? It’s 2-3/8 wide at fades.

I would say yes, In the past I have always made them too narrow and a bit shorter. Very fast wood. I think your dimensions should be ideal.

[Pappy]

I have made a few for BL, but as Steve said prone to fretting, some did for good reason and some seemed to be for no reason at all. May have been just the wood. The ones that didn't made very good shooters. 
 Pappy

[Pappy]

If I was to do another one I would probably try trapping the back and see if that helps. Pappy

[Selfbowman]

Makes sense pappy on the trapping.

[Pat B]

I cut my bow building teeth on locust. I started buying locust fence posts for $5 each. Made lots of bows but they all fretted. My only success was with an Eastern Woodland style bendy handle bow I made for a bow trade.
 The locust that grows around on our property has something that causes the early growth rings to deteriorate and separate so all of the bows I tried with them have failed. I think there are a lot of variables when it comes to locust, at least around here.

[Jim Davis]

When I lived in Maine, BL was the best wood I could easily get.

My first use of it was from a small tree that only allowed a 1-1/2" wide stave. I made a pyramid design bow that was nearly perfect tiller at #35. It had about 3 inches of  reflex. I shot it a lot and it performed well. Then I discovered that the belly had a parade of frets from one tip to the other--the whole belly.

With nothing much to lose, I just kept on shooting it. Eventually, I over drew it and it broke.

For the next few years, I made all my bows with backs narrower than the belly. But my subsequent research found studies that indicated that wood only stretches about 1% before breaking. SO, narrowing the back does not make the tension wood stretch more to accommodate the compression of the belly.

We all know that if we bend any piece of wood far enough, it WILL break. The balance for bowyers is in making the limbs thin enough to not yield (take set) at the amount of bend (draw length) we want. At the right thickness for the bend, the weight will be determined by the limb width.

My best locust bows were pyramid design, a little under 1/2" thick, 2-1/2" wide at the fades, 68" NTN and about #40 at 28".

[sleek]

When I lived in Maine, BL was the best wood I could easily get.

My first use of it was from a small tree that only allowed a 1-1/2" wide stave. I made a pyramid design bow that was nearly perfect tiller at #35. It had about 3 inches of  reflex. I shot it a lot and it performed well. Then I discovered that the belly had a parade of frets from one tip to the other--the whole belly.

With nothing much to lose, I just kept on shooting it. Eventually, I over drew it and it broke.

For the next few years, I made all my bows with backs narrower than the belly. But my subsequent research found studies that indicated that wood only stretches about 1% before breaking. SO, narrowing the back does not make the tension wood stretch more to accommodate the compression of the belly.

We all know that if we bend any piece of wood far enough, it WILL break. The balance for bowyers is in making the limbs thin enough to not yield (take set) at the amount of bend (draw length) we want. At the right thickness for the bend, the weight will be determined by the limb width.

My best locust bows were pyramid design, a little under 1/2" thick, 2-1/2" wide at the fades, 68" NTN and about #40 at 28".

How long do you make your handles and are your tips stiff? Im trying to calculate how long the actual bending section of the limbs are for your bow.

[Jim Davis]

Four inch handle, two inch fades. Six inches at the tips not bending much.

[bassman211]

If you make  a locust  bow from a sapling you don't need to trap the back, and when I did trap the back more than I should have the back broke when I used logs. It can be a bitch to get one just right, but when you do it makes a good bow, and will teach you a thing , or two about tillering.