Black Locust

[Lee Lobbestael]

Hey guys, I cut a big black locust tree yesterday and got seven quality staves from it! I sealed em and stuck them in my shed bark on to cure. I have never used BL before and i'm plannin on making some self bows. Being a newbie with this wood, is there anything I need to know about it?
How long should I give it to cure(split into staves with bark on)?

With BL do you make the back of your bow out of the yellowish heart wood or the white sap wood?

Also I heard BL frets easy, For a long time now I thought fretting was compression cracks in belly, but now I hear fretting is splinters popping up on the back of the bow. Is this true?

Sorry for all the questions! Thanks for lookin

[Woodland Roamer]

Lee, Locust will make a great bow if properly tillered. I like to let locust, or any bow wood for that matter, cure for a year or more. I have made locust bows with sap wood backs but normally remove the sap wood and chase a ring of heart wood for the back. No problem storing it with the bark on, just check often to make sure that no bugs are boring in there. You were correct on the fretting, that is compression cracks on the belly. I have made a lot of locust bows and have never had a problem with this. If you are careful with the tiller from the start and don't get any hinges you shouldn't have any trouble.

Alan