Black Locust

[Atlatlista]

So, I live on a farm now, and I have this like, whole field of black locust, more or less.  Maybe 100+ decent-sized trees with tons (a thousand?) of shoots and saplings.  I've heard some people say it's a decent bow wood, but I was wondering what your opinions are on it.  Is it a good wood?  What kinds of bows does it make best?  What's the performance like?  Can you use the shoots for arrows?  I've got so many shoots I'm awfully tempted.

Side note - I also have a ton of nice, straight, small diameter willow shoots.  Does willow make acceptable arrows?  I know it makes okay atlatl darts.

[blackhawk]

Go to your Google search engine page and type the words "black locust primitive archer" and you'll get a whole days worth plus of info from a ton of previous threads ...click on the more results and it'll display many pages of threads about black locust.....its best to do a search first..and if then you still can't find your answers then ask...but your simple question has been asked n answered a thousand times before....not being a jerk..jus saying there's a wealth of info at your finger tips..just click and use it...

[RBLusthaus]

BL makes great bows.  IMHO, too heavy for shafting, but I have never tried the shoots. 

1 3/4 wide at the end of the fades, 63-68 inches in length, with a flat belly, tapering to 1/2 inch tips and bobs your uncle.  Many variations on theme as well.  Depending on thickness, should be good for 40-60 pound bows.   

Russ

[wood_bandit99]

I have never personally worked with it but I have heard it is more prone to chrysalling unless you tiller good. Other than that, I have heard it is probably the best bow wood as far as speed. Osage is probably the best all around and yew is pretty easy to work and black locust is picky but if it works it is amazing.

[Blaflair2]

I got a BL stave from patb and it's like 8 yrs old or more. Hard as nails. Pain in the ass. But what I've read and stuff makes a great bow if done right. I'm just waiting till I can do it right

[toomanyknots]

I know this subject in general has been covered extensively, like most of em on here, but I am curious of peoples experience with black locust as well. I recently acquired a nice board of black locust. I have access to tons of it too, I have for years, but the stuff is always eaten up with huge borer grubs.

[Buckeye Guy]

Good wood !!
Follow the rules for it !

Shoots should be good for arrows , I have not used it for arrows personally but see no reason not to !

[blackhawk]

Good wood !!
Follow the rules for it !

I disagree....its EXCELLENT wood!!!!  

[huisme]

My favorite bow wood. Osage is more stable and reliable especially at higher weights, but my fastest bows per draw weight have been black locust.

If I had one chance to make one bow from one stave, I'd choose Osage because I'm not a dummy.
If I had a choice of five staves of the same wood to make bows from, I'd go with BL to get the fastest bow possible.

The stuff takes heat and steam very well, and a toasted belly is a big help due to the high tension to compression strength ratio. I also trap some of my BL bows, but I kinda like the look of a clean BL back enough that I hold off until I'm sure I need it.

My best have been 65-70" TtT, 1^3/4" at the fades narrowing to  pencil thin steam-recurved tips (seriously, I make them as thin as possible and always like them to do a little work) with BL overlay nocks. I would have to call most of them character bows as I haven't had many staves 'boring' enough to make completely character-less

I have no idea how to use a BL board. I'd take a swing at using a bamboo back and slightly wider design. Despite the tendency to chrysal, BL actually has a very high compression strength; I think the issue is actually that the tension strength is significantly higher than the compression strength, which when compared to Osage's com/ten strength and higher jenka hardness is less stable.

I've made bows that I still shoot with two-month wood. I cut the wood four inches longer than what I'm going for and don't bother sealing after immediately splitting. My stuff has all been very easy to split, but apparently that's not always the story. I take the sapwood off as soon as possible and just leave it in the garage for two months, and keep it near the wood stove while working on it. If the wood is slightly green when the bow is finished you can expect it to gain a few pounds of draw weight, so don't make your perfect bow from green wood 

[blackhawk]

@Toomanyknots....if you remember Ryano made a couple hard backed locust laminates,and Marc has made one as well that turned out sweet from what I saw....I found a board earlier this year  that I plan on making a lam bow with...if youve aquired just one board(the lumber is elcheapo,mine was..just a few bucks)then why not go for it and try it....but with my experiences with locust I've found the better stuff for compression to be bigger ringed stuff,or a good ratio of small early wood to late wood...even tho its porous like osage,and most any osage will still make a decent bow,not so with locust IMO....so when looking for a board obviously find clean(no knots)straight grain,and look at the end cut to check its ring ratio....

[Buckeye Guy]

Good wood !!
Follow the rules for it !

I disagree....its EXCELLENT wood!!!!  

Sorry
I miss spoke again !!!
Maybe someday I will learn the proper use of this complex language!
Recon That is what you get when you pull a worthless old nut from the backwoods and put him on a new fandangled wireless thingamabob !

[Atlatlista]

My favorite bow wood. Osage is more stable and reliable especially at higher weights, but my fastest bows per draw weight have been black locust.

If I had one chance to make one bow from one stave, I'd choose Osage because I'm not a dummy.
If I had a choice of five staves of the same wood to make bows from, I'd go with BL to get the fastest bow possible.

The stuff takes heat and steam very well, and a toasted belly is a big help due to the high tension to compression strength ratio. I also trap some of my BL bows, but I kinda like the look of a clean BL back enough that I hold off until I'm sure I need it.

My best have been 65-70" TtT, 1^3/4" at the fades narrowing to  pencil thin steam-recurved tips (seriously, I make them as thin as possible and always like them to do a little work) with BL overlay nocks. I would have to call most of them character bows as I haven't had many staves 'boring' enough to make completely character-less

I have no idea how to use a BL board. I'd take a swing at using a bamboo back and slightly wider design. Despite the tendency to chrysal, BL actually has a very high compression strength; I think the issue is actually that the tension strength is significantly higher than the compression strength, which when compared to Osage's com/ten strength and higher jenka hardness is less stable.

I've made bows that I still shoot with two-month wood. I cut the wood four inches longer than what I'm going for and don't bother sealing after immediately splitting. My stuff has all been very easy to split, but apparently that's not always the story. I take the sapwood off as soon as possible and just leave it in the garage for two months, and keep it near the wood stove while working on it. If the wood is slightly green when the bow is finished you can expect it to gain a few pounds of draw weight, so don't make your perfect bow from green wood 

Wonderful post. Thank you so much for the detailed information. At the risk of being told to use the search feature again, could you post some pics of your favorite BL bows?

[Buckeye Guy]

Ask away !
He will answer !
Cause if he don't I will mess it up !
 

[blackhawk]

Would you like us to make the bow for you as well?     

[Buckeye Guy]

Tell him  yes please and give him a pretty smile
 he will melt
his bark is more than his bite !
 
I have one of his, it is a prize possession for sure , I don't even have a pretty smile !