Black Locust dry time

[Buckeye Guy]

A friend ask me if BL takes longer to dry than Osage ?
I told him I would post his ? here Because I have never worked any that was not seasoned for a few years !
My guess was that it did not take longer but that the Osage maybe more forgiving if its not fully dry !
He said he cut it 9 months ago and worked it down to near bow size but its still to wet !
Know that I think about it if its rained as much at his place as it has mine in the last nine months  ,I would not expect either one to be dry !!
Anyway what do you folks say ?
He is new to the forum so maybe this will get him started posting on here!

[blackhawk]

Do you know what type environment and RH the stave has been sitting in?

[Hank]

BL takes no longer than osage to dry. Humidity does come into play when open air drying bow wood. Took a BL tree in early October, spit it down, barked the splits,  then left the splits in a hot box for six weeks. I'm already making BL bows. As a general rule, before getting the hot box, I always let bow wood open air season for at lest a year before working. Where does your friend have it drying? Out side? Indoors?

Hank

[mikekeswick]

Tell your friend to get a humidity meter - it's probably the most important tool for drying wood. Then do a search for humidity/temperature table for wood moisture content, there's one in TBB and on paleoplanet.net. With these two things to guide you know what the wood is at without having to buy an expensive m/c tester (cheap ones are pretty much useless).

[druid]

My black locust boards were 4/5" thick and dry in 20 days in hot august, 10% MC.

[LiLJack]

Thank You for all the great information on BL.  I have the stave drying in my pole barn in that is dry we have had a a very wet year although. I have been thinking about building a hotbox ( haven't had the time).  I have thought about a meter but I have read some where they were not that accurate.  Haven't got my better half her present yet I wonder if she would like a moisture meter for Christmas?
Merry Christmas to all of you.
LiLJack

[blackhawk]

Hi liljack....welcome to primitive archer...im glad ya signed up. Your in good trusted hands here,and there's lots of folks with a combined infinite amount of years worth of bowmaking experience here ready to help and share there wisdom. 

Even tho its been in a pole barn its still prob been to high of humidity in there with the wet year we had. Screw the moisture meter bud,its not needed. Save your money and go buy a relative humidity meter that also shows the temp at wally world for like 6$. Find your self an area that's 40-50% rh to store your wood in that's around 70 degrees.

As far as getting that stave of yours ready for tillering: Chase your final back ring and seal it with shellac and shellac only if you haven't already done so. Then make sure you reduce the front profile to bow dimension except leaving it an inch wide out at the tips for now. Then try to establish an even thickness taper in your limbs and floor tiller the stave as well as you can. The better your floor tiller the better it will be and easier to commence tillering when dry. Get it bending around 6"(no more) at 50lbsthe of pressure. Then weigh your stave and write the weight and date down. Next stick it in a heating duct;you don't need a hot box either and this will save ya some more money. Plus its the ultimate hotbox in my opinion. Check your stave visually each day and make sure there is no checks. If non then leave it in there..if there is one developing then hold off for a week or two before you put it back in. Now once a week weigh the stave recording and writing down the weight each week. And I bet within a month your stave will be dry enough to make a bow out of. Once it has stopped losing weight for a week or two then it should be ready to tiller. Hope this helps and keep asking questions. You'll learn a lot faster asking questions. And there is no such thing as a stupid question. We've all been beginners and have been there and know what its like to b in your shoes.



By the way my names Chris...nice to meet ya

[Buckeye Guy]

Welcome  to PA LiLJack !
Now that we have you ,sit back and enjoy the ride !!
I am sure she needs a few archery related items for Christmas !!
Guy
 Check out Pearldrums  post about BL, because Blackhawk has some good info for you !
He and Pearl are also Marty's Friends !

[mikekeswick]

Blackhawk
'Even tho its been in a pole barn its still prob been to high of humidity in there with the wet year we had. Screw the moisture meter bud,its not needed. Save your money and go buy a relative humidity meter that also shows the temp at wally world for like 6$. Find your self an area that's 40-50% rh to store your wood in that's around 70 degrees.
 

[PEARL DRUMS]

 Under your bed is generally one of the driest places in a home, above your kitchen cabinets is a close second. I have no less than 2 bows at any given time under our bed drying out. It works fast.

[Buckeye Guy]

Pearl
Under the bed is where I but things to keep them from drying out !
Must be this swamp I live in!
Guess I better not use that for a recommendation any more! It might be differant for others !
Guy