Tree harvesting questions

[gudspelr]

I found out today that a friend has what appears to be a fairly decent amount of Black Locust trees on his folks farm that they're going to cut down.  Apparently, there are quite a few unwanted "starters" that popped up and they want to get rid of them.  I'm going to hopefully go over this next week and get my pick of whatever and however much I want  .  So, never having harvested wood for bows before, I was hoping for a little help...

I plan on splitting the wood I get, stripping the bark, and sealing the ends.  Obviously, longer is better and I can choose stave placement out of those.  But, how long is a good way to go?  Also, should I pay more attention to the main trunks, or would limbs be a good bet, too.  And what about size?  What is a good minimum size diameter that I'm going to want?  I've read threads where guys talk about better/worse times of year to harvest wood, but this will all be gone and probably burned up if I don't get on it.  By the way, my friend wasn't certain of the tree's identification (we saw one today elsewhere and I'm pretty sure it's Black Locust), but said it's so hard, they've bent nails driving them in and the wood will burn in a stove for a long time-that sound about right?

Thanks for any help.


Jeremy

[LivingElemental]

Sounds like black locust. They're past blooming this time of year i think, but just Google what their flowers and their leaves look like. Their leaves grow in pods that I've always thought look like fern leaves. I have yet to work with Black Locust, but i know it's premier slow-burning firewood because we used to burn it in our potbelly stove when i used to stay at my great papaws house.

[Del the cat]

7foot long my yard stick is  (to be read in Yoda voice for max humour )
But then I tend to go for ELBs.
As for limbs etc. I harvest anything even vaguely useable, you generally regret it if you don't.
Some of the less suitable wood ends up being the best for character bows.
Of course if you have a vast amount of stuff just take the best, but cut it long, it's tricky to spot defect & problems in the rough so the extra length is always handy.
Del

[DarkSoul]

I would prefer trunks of black locust. Branches can be used, but those are generally very gnarly and loaded with knots. Take as much as you can though; start with the trunks but take some branches as well if you like challenging character bows.

Diameter should be at least 3". I prefer 6 to 8" diameter though. Length should be over 6 feet, but I prefer 7 feet myself. That way, some small end cracks won't hurt, and if there's an unexpected knot in the wood, you may be able to lay out the bow in such a way that the knots ends up in the handle.

Since you don't use the sapwood in black locust, you'll lose some thickness. A sucker/starter of only 3" diameter may have only one inch of heartwood, which is not ideal.

Do NOT remove the bark from black locust, UNLESS you also remove the sapwood straight away. If you remove the bark, the sapwood will split terribly, creating cracks that go into the heartwood. This can make perfect staves unuseable.

Black locust is easy to identify. Google some pictures now, and see if it matches the trees you see in the field. If they're not black locust after all, you can still cut them. Maybe we can identify it as another good bowwood...

[osage outlaw]

When I cut bow wood, I cut the logs into 80" lengths if possible.  Don't be afraid to take shorter sections if that's all you can get.  Take home anything that you think might work for bows.  You can sort through it when you split it into staves.  If you leave the bark on, spray them down with bug spray. 

[straightarrow]

Like dark soul said.... leave the bark on. Blackhawk, hickory Bill and I did some last year.... we left the bark on and had no issues with checking...... just seal the ends....

Jon

[gudspelr]

Thanks so much for all the info.  I'm pretty certain it's black locust based on the leaves and the rougher, deeper bark.  So with the b.l., you end up removing all the sap wood to the heart wood, then?  Glad you mentioned that and not to remove the bark yet, as well.  What kind of bug spray should I get and should I plan on at least a year for the staves to dry?  Thanks again.

Jeremy