Locust board advice?

[bubby]

Yup

[BowEd]

I'd be afraid of that board being kiln dried myself.

[Academonicon]

Thanks for the advice, everybody.  Didn't expect to stir up controversy!  I'd like to do some kind of laminate backing as some people have suggested, but I've never done that before.  Anyone have links to build-alongs or guides to doing a maple backing or something along those lines?

[PEARL DRUMS]

No controversy. Some people just read what they want to read and not what is typed. Very typical on forums.


Search Google for "Perry reflex". I bet you find a million pictures and instructions.

[Academonicon]

Oh, also for a first-time wood backer: Where does one come by wood backing strips (if, like me, you don't have equipment to make them yourself)?  I know hickory and bamboo strips can be bought on line, but I don't know about other materials.

[wizardgoat]

I scored about 25 usable staves of BL off a lady on Craigslist who was downing some trees.
Some staves had 1/4" thick late wood rings and made awesome bows, while some staves
from the same tree felt like mush at floor tiller. 
I designed a couple much like I would an Osage bow and I haven't seen a fret yet.

If you can find some clean hickory or maple, you can rip your own backing strips on a table saw

[DarkSoul]

Oh, also for a first-time wood backer: Where does one come by wood backing strips (if, like me, you don't have equipment to make them yourself)?  I know hickory and bamboo strips can be bought on line, but I don't know about other materials.

Try to locate a local woodworker or cabinet shop. they wouldn't have a problem ripping up a few boards of black locust and maple into strips.

[George Tsoukalas]

Academicon, rip and splice it of you can, if it is wide enough (at least 3 inches). It's a board so the grain structure is paramount and will determine if a backing is required. Straight grained tip to tip is the ideal.

There's more info on my site.

Black locust is a very good bow wood. I cut my bow making teeth on it back in the late 80's early 90's. The BL that grows in my yard is not weak in compression.

traditionalarchery101.com

Jawge

[Academonicon]

Okay, encountered an issue working on this bow: After splicing the billets, I managed to get a propeller twist due to an uneven splice.  The splice itself is strong, but now that I've glued (with Titebond III), I obviously can't steam the handle to remove the twist from there.  What should I do about this?  The twist isn't super severe, but I worry that it'll cause problems down the line.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Flatten each limb out and shift your handle centerline accordingly.

[Springbuck]

Ever heard the saying that anyplace is within walking distance if you have enough time?

 I have used a Japanese Pull saw to saw a hickory ax handle into backings.  I smoothed it on a board glued with sandpaper.

I saw another guy chase rings on both sides of an ash shovel handle, and do the same.

You can do bamboo by splitting to size, clamping flat, and using a rasp and paper.

[Springbuck]

 "Granted, it shows when a bow is overstrained or badly tillered by fretting but that doesn't make it worse in compression than woods......"

This makes perfect sense to me.  The first step is considering if something OTHER than compression strength is to blame.

About any wood can be made to fret if overstrained.   If locust frets when poorly tillered, it may be out of compression being so-so, or it may be that it is simply so stiff that TINY thickness issues are magnified, making some spots much stiffer than others even when the thickness difference is TINY.  Likewise, we know a lenticular cross section is technically thicker than it needs to be, and compression forces are concentrated on the belly crown, so of course it will show some marks.

But, I DO trap my locust bows, just like I do ash, elm, hickory, mulberry, maple, dogwood and almost everything else unless it's already crowned on the back, and I prefer flat bellies with locust.  One "case in point" to me about it's properties is that I have been VERY successful with backed locust bows, regardless of whether I used hickory, ash, or bamboo.   I attribute this to the more rectangular cross section and even, predictable geometry.

[Dakota Kid]

I always looked at it in such that the compression is average where the strength and elasticity are good to exceptional. The compression isn't weak it just isn't as good as the other qualities of the wood.

According to the wood database, BL has a higher compression strength than osage(which was surprising). So it's more than just the one factor. It's how all the properties meld and react together.

[huisme]

I think the biggest area locusts loses to Osage is its jenka hardness, which is related in part to density. Locust is stiffer per mass but fretty in the belly, more snappy but you can hurt it beating brush out of your way. If your bow is too fragile for a hunt you've done something wrong and locust isn't weak compared with most good bow woods but every mistake in the build is a bigger deal when compared to Osage.