Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Tyke on January 13, 2015, 03:37:24 pm
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Ive had a bunch of locust curing for about 4 months i thought it was black locust but now in not sure
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If you cut the tree and the trunk looked like this;
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/Honey_locust_thorns.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ekrewson/media/Honey_locust_thorns.jpg.html)
It is honey locust, pretty hard to confuse with the non-thorny black locust trunk.
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Looks different. Honey locust typically has mondo thorns growing out of the trunk. Compound leaves. Lots of sap wood.
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Black Locust does have thorns on the young trunks but they are much more rose like than the long spines on Honey Locust.
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Good to know and lucky me its bl no thorns
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Easy way to tell the difference. Hug the tree. If it hurts, its honey locust. If it doesn't, its black locust.
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Awesome, black locust is great bow wood ;D
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Just because the trunk doesn't have the nasty thorns doesn't mean its not honeylocust. The sunburst honey locust variety is mostly thornless and is growing all over salt lake city. In fact it is a very common landscaping tree planted by cities all over. The bark furrows on black locust has a somewhat diamond pattern like expanded metal. Honey locust furrows are completely different. The first two pics are black locust. The last two are sunburst honey locust. Josh
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Thanks for that info josh ill have to look at it better
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Easy way to tell the difference. Hug the tree. If it hurts, its honey locust. If it doesn't, its black locust.
Hahaha ;D
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Josh
Thanks for jumping in with the pics to clarify this for us
I was not sure how we were gona pull that off with out pics
Now that he has it cut anybody want to try to tell him which stave is which tree type by the wood without bark on it ?
That becomes even more interesting even though there is a big difference ?
any pics ?
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In NH, BL has white flowers in the spring while HL has pink flowers. Jawge
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Jawge, unfortunately there is a cultivar of Black Locust that also has pink flowers.
Of course the street tree variety of Honey Locust will be the thornless trunk variety.
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Well unfortunately for me i think its sunburst it doesn't have the deep ridge look of the BL although it does kind of have that expanded metal look .It is a branch about 10" round and came from about 20' in the air.does the bark look the same that far from the trunk i know alot of branches are smoother than the the trunk?
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I know im grasping at straws here ill probably turn it into fire wood thanks fellas
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Nothing wrong with honey locust... It's a whitewood
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Honey Locust::
Ready made tree stand.
Just back up to it and jump. You'll stick like Velcro.
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If you only have wood to look at and no bark the honey locust is more of a light brown where the black locust has much darker streaks running through it. Honey locust is also notably lighter in weight.
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If you only have wood to look at and no bark the honey locust is more of a light brown where the black locust has much darker streaks running through it. Honey locust is also notably lighter in weight.
Well it certainly isn't light... >:D
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Easy to tell apart once you get it. Honey has large seed pods and black has little ones.
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When the tree was sranding the pods were only about 5" long and about a half a curl
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Keep in mind that there is several Robinia varieties apart from Black Locust as well as hybrids. Check and see what grows in your area first.
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I made nice honey locust bows before. Honey locust is good stuff.
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Pat, the issue we have is we do have both. And lots of both. What I think is Honey is more golden bark when the tree is young, compared to the dark olive of the Black. I could be very wrong. This stuff is Heavy, but it was also wet when it was cut. I'll split some to get it curing faster. I'll make a bow out of it regardless.
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North of my house almost all black, south of my house almost all honey, at My house very confusing see about every imaginable bark, thorn, color, and weight you can think of
Lots of hickory so I just use it
I should get off my lazy backside and start using locust I am sure both kinds can yield excellent bows