Black locust = finished finaly!

[adeeden]

Any tips for a black locust stave?

Frank Bullit dropped me of a nice one yesterday more of a blank I guess than a stave. Cut in 1993, it's ready!

It's got a slight twist to it, does locust take dry heat well?

I'll try to get some pictures up later today.

Thanks again Steve I'm looking forward to starting this one!

[inksoup]

i have tried to work with black locust. it has lots of knots and for me it was hard to work with. on the other hand, i have seen in web, it is said that it is the best limb wood.

look at the values:
id|tree|elasticity
32|Honeylocust|1.63
33|Locust Black|2.05

elasticity value is over 2. perfect.

good luck anyway.

[adeeden]

Zero nots on this one! It's a great looking blank. I am just trying to gather information before I start on it, especially on the slight twist. Trying to decide if I can use dry heat or if i will need to steam it.

I'm pretty inexperienced with making bows and have only worked boards and osage staves so this is very new to me.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Dennis,
 
 Dry heat for dry wood and wet heat for wet wood.

 Locust has to tillered spot on or it will fret.

[Don Drake]

"Dry heat for dry wood and wet heat for wet wood."

Is "dry wood" wood that has been properly seasoned as opposed to "wet wood" which still has too much moisture content; or are different species of trees either dry or wet and which is which.

Can I safely boil a seasoned Osage stave or should I use dry heat?

[Pat B]

Dry wood is well seasoned wood, no matter the species. Wet wood is freshly cut wood with the tree moisture still in it of dry wood that has taken on moisture from the atmosphere.
  First off, don't worry about the twist. With selfbows it won't hurt anything and you can remove it when you heat treat the belly if you want to. Locust benefits well from heat treating.
  For your first bow make it 68" long(for a 28" draw), 1 3/4" to 2" wide at the fades and out to at least mid limb before tapering to 1/2" tips(for now). Locust is susceptable to fretting like Stiks said so limbs that bend smoothly and evenly are critical. The heat treating will help increase the compression strength a little.
This is a locust Eastern Woodland Style Bow I built for the PA bow trade. I used light green and yellow dye on the back but note how dark the heat treated belly is...
 

 

 

..and I went with single side nocks, a traditional nock style...

 

[adeeden]

Very nice Pat!

This blank is 66" but I noticed a small crack on one end that appears to go all the way through to the back. I am going to have to cut off just under an inch from both ends. So I will have about 64" in legnth. It's down to one growth ring, limbs are 1 3/4 tapering to 1 1/4 at mid limb, then tapering to half inch on the tips.

 Limbs are at 7/16 thick as well, and it has just a bit of reflex.

The twist is slight, but I am confident if I can use dry heat (which appears I can) I can get it out. I have had great luck untwisting osage here lately and gained alot of experience on the last two bows I made. I have only made 2 from staves but several from board bows. So while it's not my first bow, I am still pretty wet behind the ears!

Here's a few picturs of this black locust blank.

   

   

I'm really likeing the grain! My camera flash brightened it alot in the picture though!
   

The twist


   

I'm shooting for a 45# at my 27" draw out of this one, anyone see any issues with that weight right off?

[Pat B]

Will you post pics of the crack? Is it running parallel with the bow or across the bow?
   That looks like a nice stave. Locust works similar to osage but is less forgiving. At 7/16" thick I'd go ahead and cut temporary nocks in the tips and put a long string just to see if or how it is bending.

[adeeden]

Here you go, I had to hold it at a pretty good angle to be able to get a picture of it.

It runs parrelal with the bow about 3/4 of an inch, I can see it on the end and both sides so i am sure it goes all the way through. Probably just from drying. The wood was cut in 93 and it was brought to the current shape in 1996.

 

 

As far as bending it is still very stiff when i flex it on the floor. I was suprised at how stiff it is to be as thin as it is. no way near ready for a long string yet!

[DVSHUNTER]

Leave it there and thin the tips and put an overlay on if you are still worried. That should take care of it. Or cut it off, but imo the extra length would help you.

Twist... what twist.

[adeeden]

Twist may be the wrong word I guess, one limb bends off line compared to the other and also twists just a bit like a propeller. I am going to go out to the shop and put some heat to it and straighten it out good so that I know my string allignment will be dead center through the handle.

[frank bullitt]

Hey Dennis! When I showed this stave/blank, to Gary about 5 years ago, he suggested using some oil, and the heat gun. Along with a form or caul!

Please, don't cut the tips short. If any fill with super glue, and use!

I agree with Pat on longer is better, but did't have anymore wood to work with on this stave!

I love Locust! The bow I have that Gary built in 1991, is from billets he got from Al Herrin.

Can ya say Mojo  :D  

You will do good with this one, I'm sure!

Enjoyed visiting with ya yesterday , too!

[adeeden]

Steve, yesterday was a great time hanging out with you! Fell free to drop by anytime.

I just got it clamped down and did use oil (Veggie) along with my heat gun. It looks good at this point but won't know how well it holds it until tomorrow.

I will get that crack super glued up tomorrow as well. I just wanted some reassurance it wouldn't be fatal leaving it in. And that seems to be what everyones saying.

I will get some pitures up tomorrow when I unclamp it. I may end up building a caul with some curve to it for this one before long.

[Pat B]

Saturate that check with thin super glue and clamp it shut. With an overlay you will never know it's there.
  You won't really know how the string will track until you brace the bow. Thats why I suggested you cut in the temporary string grooves and see how she bends on the tiller tree. After that you can deside which way to proceed.

[KellyG]

Adeeden I had the same issues with this osage stave but a little worse it was my first successful bow. thanks to patb and many others. It is not finished and I want finish it here. Just to dry. But I had some of the same nagging issues and did not use a lot of heat to get out the bends just the deflex in one limb. take a look and see if my issues look like yours.
 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=004885;p=1#000000

[adeeden]

Pulled the clamps off today. The propellar is gone! However It doesn't look like I pulled the bend out quite far enough. My string indicator is still showing I am off center by about 3/8" or so from center.

 

I corrected the string to true center of the limb tips between these two pictures as it was off on one limb when I took the first picture.

 

I got back to work tonight for the next 3 possibly 4 days. Thats 15 hours from the time I leave home until I return each day. But I am planning on reheating it and clamping it again possibly tomorrow between work and sleep and will get the crack glued and clamped as well.

I'll get more pictures once thats done.

[okie64]

Looks like you're on the right track. I'm workin on a black locust bow myself right now too. Mine has quite a bit more character to it than yours though. I'm anxious to see how yours turns out. Good Luck.

[frank bullitt]

[Pat B]

You really can't tell how the string will track until you brace the bow. Start reducing the limbs and get them bending good. Once you hit about 8" to 10" of tip movement, low brace the bow at about 3". Then you will see exactly how the string tracks under tension.

[adeeden]

Pat I agree with you on how it will track, but I figure if i get it going straight through the handle from the get-go It wil be easier to correct after it's braced. Thats whats worked for me in the past anyway.