Time to chase a ring

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

 )@stick bender, i made myself adrawing knife from n old circular saw

[Bob Barnes]

I use black locust quite a bit and the only thing I know for sure is that it's not like osage....at least the stuff I have been using.  The rings are about 1/4" thick, BUT the single layer of sapwood has light and dark streaks in with the yellowish stuff.  The first time I played with it the light colored stuff gave me fits as it looked a lot like the spring growth that I was trying to remove.  It have gone through a HUGE 1/4" ring trying to get that single smooth clean yellowish ring, with no such luck.  Now that I know the back will NOT look like light colored osage but WILL have lots of whitish color mixed throughout ... it's easy to chase.     Now I know it's not the single back ring that I have to watch with black locust, but getting the tiller very close to right on the belly side so as to prevent crysals... 

[George Tsoukalas]

Sometimes you can catch the sapwood layer above the heartwood in transition so that it takes some of the heartwood color.

The sapwood layer above the heartwood turns to heartwood in a living tree.

There are exceptions but the best scenario is a heartwood back.

I've made lots of BL bows and the heartwood is clearly delineated from the sapwood.

However, I've always felt (can't prove it) that Northern BL is better and tougher than Southern BL with fewer inciidences of chrysalling. At least, for me. and from what I've heard on here.  I have not had that many bows of BL that have chrysalis that I can remember  and I learned on BL. But it's been awhile since my bow beginnings and I'v never taken notes.

Now, white ash on the other hand almost always chrysalled for me but bowyer friends from around here have been pleased with it.

Jawge