Black Locust ( need help)

[macksdad]

Growing up in a farming setting in southeastern Ohio black locust has been a huge part of my life. I have used it for everything from fence posts to building materials to firewood. I heat my house solely with black locust and ash , I paid for my first vehicle cutting and hand splitting locust posts and firewood. I have used it to make poles for barns and even for framing lumber. It is a very tough wood. I would love to make a self bow from black locust cut on my families farm. I think it would be a very special piece of gear that I would use for a long time to come. I dont want something fancy just functional.
              Having never built a bow before I could use all of the help and advice i can get. everything from choosing the right piece of wood to start out with to finishing. So if anyone has any advice I am all ears.
 Thanks Steve

[PEARL DRUMS]

Find thee straightest, cleanest 12-14" diameter chunk you can get seven feet long. Be sure the bark is running up and down and not spiraling up the tree. Take that perfect log home and quarter it with two wedges and a sledge. Start on the skinny end always. Split those quarters again and seal the ends with shellac, glue, deck sealer, old paint or whatever you got. Give them a SUPER dousing of insecticide completely. Store them flat somewhere that doesnt get extremely hot when the sun comes out or in the summer...i.e garage attic or barn loft. Garage floors work great, semi dry basements to. Leave them sit just like that for no less than 2 years. Spray them once every six months with insecticide. Borers will eat them over night. In my opinion that is the best way to make a great bow as you want. You can make just A bow in much less time with all kinds of shortcuts. Its your call there. If it means that much to you and you want it to last, I say do it right. Thats my .02 cents, good luck and have fun! You have two years to study this forum!

[macksdad]

Do I need to start with a green log or can I use something thay is already dead. Thanks Pearl Drums, Your right on I dont care how long it takes I want to do this right.

[Osagetree]

Good advice Pearly.

I'll add; Black locust is weak on compression compared to some other woods. Proper tillering is a must to prevent fretting, otherwise known as compression fractures. This happens on the belly of the bow when under compression the wood fibers are compressed to much. It is in most cases noticable and most times creates a hinge in the limb. Read the definitions up top of the bowyers bench to learn more.
This problem is avoided by making the bow a little wider, 1 1/2" to 2". A flat bow design and longer bows help in that aspect as well.
BL needs to be well cured before trying to tiller.

[Osagetree]

An old split fence post will work if not rotten or eaten up with woodborers. Do you have such? Maybe under a barn eve or shed overhang

[PEARL DRUMS]

No standing dead stuff.

[mwosborn]

If you have access to plenty of wood you may want to do some "practice" while the "good" stuff is drying for 2 years.  Find some ash as described by Pearl - cut as soon as they start showing life this spring.  Split until you have them stave sized (2-4" wide or so).  Peel the bark and seal the ends and back with shellac (or whatever).  Allow them to dry a couple of months and then start working one down (rough it out)to bow sized.  Allow it to dry (in house) a few more weeks and then try practicing with it.  Get it to floor tiller and then begin tillering.  You may get some set and it may not be the greatest bow you will ever make but you will get valuable experience.  

I would also recommend a DVD for instruction - Gary Davis' rattlestick is pretty good to get a start.

Good luck - but beware - it is addictive!

[1025 vs]

While you wait, reading The Bowyer's Bible series is a good idea. If you can't afford all of them, volumes 1 and 4 are probably the best to start with. Also, board bows can be quite inexpensive and very good practice so you don't ruin that stave you waited so long for.   Rob

[macksdad]

Thanks everyone for your input. I am going out now to find some material to work with. Got some trees picked out and I think I remember some where there is some locust 2x6 boards that have been laying in a hay loft for about 3 years they will make good practice pieces I think.

[okie64]

When you take the bark off of locust you need to take the sapwood off at the same time or it will usually check badly and sometimes the checks can run really deep into the heartwood ruining your staves. Best thing to do is like pearl said and leave the bark on and spray with pesticide until you're ready to make a bow.

[George Tsoukalas]

It's a good wood which functions best with a hardwood back provided you have enough heartwood. If not go with what you have. I've made them from BL saplings. Jawge

[macksdad]

After work Yesterday I got to cut some nice locust logs . I got 4 real straight 7 footers i split 14 staves out of them. Probablly could split some of them into two again. got them stacked on a pallet , ends are sealed and sprayed them with an insecticide. I will try to get some pics up here soon. Now the long wait begins.

[Dan Landis]

Like George said BL saplings will make a good bow, my first shooter was from a BL sapling that only measures 1-1/4" diameter with the bark removed.  It is 60# @ 28" and 65" ttt.  It ended up with about 2" of set, mostly due to inexperience and not waiting for it to dry properly.  Is a good shooter though, with no hand shock, and draws smooth.....Dan

[michaelschwister]

My first successful hunting weight bow was Black Locust from the same grove my grandfather had cut posts from in the 20s-40s.  Works alot like osage, except be very careful on tiller as the belly will fret, even with a perfect tiller it may fret some, but on BL frets are ot fatal.  I named that bow "Grnadfathers post".  You most likely have osage nearby.  I recommend you work with that instead.