Locust tree stock?

[Hannibal]

Anyone here ever make a stock out of Locust? Yeah, the stuff with the nasty, poisionous thorns.

Used to burn a lot of it because no one else wanted to cut it but everyone wanted it gone if you'd spray the stumps with Tordon. Lot's of heat but lots of cresote in the flue as well.

Anyway, it had a very interesting grain structure/figure. I think a stock would be very impressive IF it was done correctly.

[beemer]

I think it would be heavy but if you leave it outside the stock will be there when the rest has rusted away. I've burnt a lot of it too.

[truckjohn]

Locust is in the same density/hardness class as rosewoods.

Sure, you could do it, but it will be about double the weight of walnut.

[Hannibal]

Can't be any worse than Osage Orange.

Been there, done that too.

I like unique and unusual things. What's the point of following everyone else?

They're one-off creations that can't be resold anyway. Completely for my personal use and amusement.

I was just wondering if there was any particular difficulty to look out for or be aware of.

[ulav8r]

It is very hard when dried. Be sure to keep your tools sharp.

[GregLaROCHE]

It makes the best wooden fence posts.

[Winger Ed.]

I'd make some sample boards and let it dry out, then and work & finish a few pieces to see what it'll look like
before I went to all the trouble of making a stock.

If nothing else-- It might make some nice looking picture frames,
or back board/mounts for dead animal heads to put in the man cave.

[stubshaft]

I've made self bows out of it and it is heavy and hard! But it is also very strong and casts a great arrow.

[indian joe]

It is very hard when dried. Be sure to keep your tools sharp.

we had a couple honey locust trees (puncture trees) --compared to inland aussie timber the wood was quite light and soft - rots easy underground too -must be a different critter?

[Outer Rondacker]

Locust oh boy. As someone who has ran a sawmill for many years I have cut Tri-axle after tri-axle of this stuff for many years. What can I tell you lets see. It is very hard. The dust that the mill produces is grainy and course. If a board wants to bow just let it because you will not bend it back. If you are going to use it you will most likely have to pre-drill your holes for nails or screws. Sanding is like sanding IRON.

Best used for fence posts, wagon boards and trailer decking, home made bridges, bullet backstops and blocking for lifting houses off the foundations.

It is not light. Its harder than most woods. You will not dent it with a hammer. Does not saw easy and you have to go slow with your cuts. Did I mention it is heavy has heck.

Honestly I do not ever remember seeing any grain in the butt logs when I had them on the mill. Just yellow pee like smelling wood.

[Rockingkj]

Locust is nice hard wood for turning on a lathe. I had turned duck calls from wood harvested on my place and liked the result. Would be a mother to work with hand tools. As a tree on a fellows place it’s invasive and hard to kill. Knew a guy that ran a thorn into his hand, got infected and lost the hand.

[owejia]

Black locust is different from the Honey locust. The Honey locust is the one with the 3-4" thorns. The Black locust has short stubby thorns. Honey locust rots easily while the Black locust does not. Black locust make excellent fence post. Some of the Honey locust do not have thorns, the ones with thorns will cause severe infections if they penetrate your hand or feet very deep, almost like the bamboo punji stakes in Nam. Have cut a bunch of both types. Have never seen a Black locust over 10 - 14" dia, but the Honey locust get 2-3' in dia. This is my experience with the Locust family here in West Tenn.. They are hard on tractor tires. Cut every one I see on my place. Would think the Black locust would make a very classy looking stock but would be dense and heavy, the Honey locust the color would be lighter and not as heavy, but would still be a classy looking stock. Have you ever thought about making one from a Sassafras tree, they were used to make boat keels in the old days.

[contender1]

To answer the OP,, yes,, I have seen a gun stock made out of black locust wood.

A good friend of mine is a "tree man" He's the guy you call when you want a tree removed. He's the "aerial" guy. He rides a crane, or climbs. He tops, sections etc. One of the best I've ever seen.
And he has property he's been cutting & clearing trees & such from for years. He sells some, and he also has a bunch that he's taken to a sawmill, and had cut to his specs. He has a building for drying & curing etc.

He also enjoys Remington Model 788 rifles. He has made a stock out of black locust for one of his rifles. He picked a piece of wood that had some yellow AND black coloring in it. It actually turned out pretty nice. he did say he sharpened his tools more than normal when working it.
If I can catch up to him, I'll see about a picture.

[Hannibal]

To answer the OP,, yes,, I have seen a gun stock made out of black locust wood.

A good friend of mine is a "tree man" He's the guy you call when you want a tree removed. He's the "aerial" guy. He rides a crane, or climbs. He tops, sections etc. One of the best I've ever seen.
And he has property he's been cutting & clearing trees & such from for years. He sells some, and he also has a bunch that he's taken to a sawmill, and had cut to his specs. He has a building for drying & curing etc.

He also enjoys Remington Model 788 rifles. He has made a stock out of black locust for one of his rifles. He picked a piece of wood that had some yellow AND black coloring in it. It actually turned out pretty nice. he did say he sharpened his tools more than normal when working it.
If I can catch up to him, I'll see about a picture.

If you could that would be great! I'd really like to see it.

[DougGuy]

It makes the best wooden fence posts.

100yrs for a locust fence post is not at all out of the ordinary. Ever been up around the Blue Ridge mountains in the fall/winter? Step out in the morning with coffee and sit on the porch and take in that mountain air, the smell of a fireplace or wood burning stove burning locust bark is unmistakable, and sweet smelling, it is THE wood fire smell that lets you know you are in the Blue Ridge..

[Rapier]

Some wood is bad to turn or cut, the dust is at least an irritant, worse than Walnut. When I cut Mesquite I wear a filtering mask face shield and gloves. Monkey Pod or Rain Tree is another fun wood to cut.

Usually anything with the long thorns have a sharp and brittle tip, that breaks off with the stick, that little tip is usually what causes the infection.

[Teddy (punchie)]

No I have not, But sure is some nice grain. I have cut and split my share. One spring I sold over 200 post size of 4"x4" x8' or larger most were split. I found it to be a warping wood but that said if you work towards as close the center of log. I think it may work. May take a long time to dry out. Most of the locust guy are cutting are dead but not dry. Some post or trees are different . We still have some post and nail go in some hard but okay; others are like iron and no way to get the insulator nailed to the post 1-1/2" better be happy with 3/4 " or maybe 1". Sing of the old nail with each tap of the hammer, forget about swinging that hammer like your nailing in pine.

[beemer]

100yrs for a locust fence post is not at all out of the ordinary. Ever been up around the Blue Ridge mountains in the fall/winter? Step out in the morning with coffee and sit on the porch and take in that mountain air, the smell of a fireplace or wood burning stove burning locust bark is unmistakable, and sweet smelling, it is THE wood fire smell that lets you know you are in the Blue Ridge..

When I was working I would save a pile of locust to heat the house while I was off the week of Christmas for that very reason.

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, heavy, hard, rot resistant and very twisty. I would opt for maple or black cherry if you don’t want walnut.

[garbler]

I’ve worked with black locust in the boat building industry for many years. We called it poor man’s teak as it as rot resistant as any domestic species. The wood is heavy and despite what some may say is not hard to work either with high speed steel knives or cutters or sharp hand tools. Sands well and takes clear and oil finishes as fine as anything.

The biggest problem with harvesting Black Locust is they are quite often hollowed out by ants rendering the log good for light trim, fence posts or the best ‘ all nighters ‘ for your wood stove. Living in NH for years we had lots of locust but also had our share of bummer logs. Hard enough to find a straight butt end without ant damage. Black locust is hard around 1700 on the Janka scale and weighs around 48-52# per cu ft so about 4# heavier than your better walnuts. Of course wood weight varies depending on annular growth rings, defects or figure etc so all these numbers are depending. Black locust contains quite a lot of resins and gums which don’t leave room for much cellular moisture migration which equates to very good dimensional stability similar to many of the better tropical species. It is also not split prone around fasteners, glues well and doesn’t really require a lot of drying to use since there is not a lot of free moisture in this species.

However it has another characteristic that aids in this department and that is the pores of the wood are capped by a natural bi-product called tyloses which prevents water from traveling into the wood feature that makes it a prized boat building wood. But there is an unusual visual bonus which is natural fluorescence. With clears or oil finishes the wood can actually glow under certain light conditions. It’s really nice and depending on the use can make up for the lack of spectacular figure found in Claro, English and Bastogne walnuts. As a boat builder I stayed away from narley highly figured wood but there are logs with decent figure it’s just not as common.

Rick