Hey guys! Any body here ever made a self bow with black locust? Anything I should know about it before I start?
I personally haven't, but I have seen several bow made from black locust.
Good luck to you!
It's a good wood for selfbows. You'll find large growth rings that are easy to follow. I'd go 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" wide at the fades to about mid limb and then tapper to somewhere around 1/2" tips. Tillering is crital as black locust will fret fairly easily.
Here's one I did some years back,,, black locust and blacksnake skin with rivercane arrows.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/snakelocusta12.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/snakelocust12.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/snakelocust11.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/Locustbuck11.jpg)
I made one once from a BL sapling about 1-1/4" dia. It is 65" ntn and pulls 60# at 28" and shoots pretty good. This was actually my first shooter, probably would have taken less set if I had more experience at tillering. I've been looking for a good BL stave to cut so I can make one from a stave. Keep us posted of your progress. Dan
I cut my bow building teeth on black locust. I could buy locust fence rails for $5 each. I screwed up lots of good locust. My problem not the woods.
George Tsoukalas loves locust and makes great bows with it. Check out his website.
Thanks guys!Thats a beautiful bow osage! Does heat treating the belly work on bl to help eliminate fretting?
I would think that locust would fair well with heat treating the belly. It sure would help the compression.
I have heard that locust is the strongest wood in compression strength of all the NA hardwoods. It is brittle and that is where the fretting comes in.
My first bows were Black Locust. It is nice to work with and will make a nice bow. Just beware of the splinters. They fester!
Getting ready to. Stumbled on a black locust blown over, still intact from last week's tornado. Fellow said I could have it all. Going to cut what I can for staves and the rest for fire wood. Will likely be my first bow other than maybe a couple board bows (until I get one that holds together). Would start with hickory, but I'll take what the good Lord gives me.