Black locust vs. Hickory

[Jakesnyder]

Out of these 2 which one is a better bow wood? I dont know much about black locust. How is it in compression and tension? Prone to string follow?

[Pat B]

Black locust is strong in tension and compression but it is brittle and susceptible to fretting if your tillering isn't just right. I personally prefer hickory but there are others here that would disagree. 

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I like black locust better, but love them durability and abuse hickory can.take compared to locust. Black locust is very temperamental to the littlest over stress and will fret. Both do very well with a good heat treat. It does seem like te locust takes the heat a lot quicker than hickory does. A big reason I like black locust is that I can work it with a drawknife quicker and easier.

Kyle

[George Tsoukalas]

I've made a lot of bows from both woods.

Hickory is pretty strong in compression and tension but it is pretty hygroscopic meaning it can absorb moisture quickly. My hickory bow for the year gets stored in AC. Take off the bark and make a bow. No ring chasing needed. The bark comes off easily during the growing season.

BL is strong in tension and medium in compression. I've had some chrysalling but only when I first started. It works best as a heartwood so ring chasing is done to get at the heartwood. It does not absorb moisture as quickly as hickory. From what I've seen on here BL from Northern climates seem to be a bit less prone to chrysalling. That's anecdotal though...can't prove it.

Jawge

[gutpile]

Im in south and as long as you keep bow indoors and get moisture content to 12 or below.. no lower than 8 for sure..its a hard bow wood to beat. super light tension and compression is top notch... and peel bark back is done... much more forgiving than locust too..gut

[Morgan]

My vote goes to hickory. I think if you make two equally good bows of both woods that the locust would outlast the hickory and maybe be a snappier shooter ( especially in a humid environment)  but I do not have good luck with black locust and have failed on more attempts at making a bow from it than I have succeeded.  I have made bows from hickory that should have blown to pieces that didn’t and made shooters and haven’t had one fail. My failures with locust is all my doing and the staves would have most likely made good bows under a more experienced hand though.