Black locust wood

[gorazd]

I have some perfectly cut  - 1/4 sawn black locust (Acacia) strips left (made laminated siyahs from it)...
For next project (mongol bow) I plan to use it for core wood.... has anyone used the black locust for core in composite bows ?
How does it take bending comparing maple, bamboo, etc ... ?

[loon]

Alex Wittenaar of medicinebows has used it on a Mongol style bow, he said it was good, I guess stable.
I think there's some discussion on the Hornbowyers facebook group about it... maybe..
Might be harder to bend..

[RBLusthaus]

I would think it is kinda heavy for core wood. 

[BowEd]

Jeffery Schmidt has used it before.You might not know him though.
Edge grain/flexible enough/dense enough.Don't really see why it would'nt work.
I've used hickory.Flat sawn and it's alive yet.

[loon]

Now I know of a hornbowyer who hasn't had success with hickory. Apparently it doesn't bond with hide glue so well, though maybe better gluing, cleaning, sizing could fix that. I imagine it'd be less stable than maple?

[BowEd]

That could easily be.I'm on my fourth with no glue bonding issues using hickory.I suspect proper preperation is the key.
I use very thin ringed hickory.Early wood like dots on the side grain.Used them in grooved and flat glued core to horn situations.Also sinewing too with no failures.
Good core wood should be at least .65 density.Tough and elastic with good glueing qualities.HHB or ironwood or yellow birch would be a great candidate for a core also.Stability I think is increased with a denser wood,but not to the point of reducing performance being too dense.Like say osage.The thicker the horn thickness I think contributes to stabilness more then anything.
I really see no danger using black locust.Especially edge grain if the early wood is a small percentage.Sizing properly to fill everything in the early wood.

[mikekeswick]

It is very oily so gluing will be risky. The latewood is also very hard, combined with the softness of the earlywood the grooves will be hard to control. It is also thin which won't help matters. Thicker core wood will help hugely during horn/core glue up. 1/4 sawn wood is less laterally stable than flat sawn - again important in the finished bow.
I would use it to make laminated tips.

[BowEd]

It is a lot of time investment into these type bows.I remember being excited about black cherry wood being put into a high reflex thinking it was the greatest till it chrysalled on me thousands of shots later.Osage,black locust,and red cedar woods being the most oily I've sinewed them all with no failures but not into a profile such as a horn bow.
Grooving might be an option to do.
I guess it's up to the bowmaker.