Honey Locust

[Dan Landis]

Cut a small honey locust today, compliments of "Irene", was wondering if there is anything special that needs to be done to dry it and to prevent checking?  So far, I've split it down the middle, peeled the bark, and sealed the ends and back with shellac.  Do you typically use the ring just under the bark as the back, or do you chase a ring into the heartwood?.....Dan

[Pat B]

Dan, I believe you use honey locust like any whitewoods so use the ring under the bark for the back. Keep an eye on it over the next week or so to be sure the back doesn't begin checking. If you see any small checks add more shellac.

[SportHunter]

I would seal the back just in case. Better to seal well now than wish u had when the checks appear.

[Dan Landis]

Thanks for the advice guys, kinda what I thought, but didn't want to screw it up.  The staves are about 68" long, any suggestions as to what style of bow works best with this wood?.....Dan

[Diamondback59]

ILL BE WATCHIN THIS I WAS GIFTED A SEASOND HONEY LOCUST STAVE AT MOJAM  2 YEARS OLD I DE BARKED IT AND NOT A SINGLE CRACK IN THE SAP ANYONE EVER USE THE SAP ON HONEY LOCUST ? IV SEEN 2 FLAT BOWS MADE WITH IT BUT THEY WERE MADE FROM HEART WOOD MINES BIG ENOUGH TO GET 2 BOWS OUT OF 7 FT LONG THINKIN TO MAKE A WAR BOW OUT OF ONE A FLATBOW ON THE OTHER THE STUFF LOOKS LIKE YEW WITH THE SAP ON IT   ILL BE WATCHIN THIS BROCK

[GREG IN MALAD]

Dan,
I cut some honey locust for riser blocks this spring. The pieces that were coated with shellac don't show any cracking. The one piece that I didn't coat cracked horribly.

[Pat B]

Brock, use the wood under the bark on honey locust as your back. Consider honey locust as a whitewood. Honey locust is totally different than black locust and your bow should reflect that.

[Diamondback59]

pat so in other words  make it like i would a hickory ?  u think i need to rawhide back it for a war bow or what the piec e i got is really clean dont see any knots or pins on it but i got like 3/8-1/2 sap on there to take off yet haha  gettn stuff packed im leavin for the high country in am bulls are startin to bugle and run up here  not real hot yet but gettn better everyday  brock

[Dan Landis]

Brock, I hope their not getting too hot yet, I'm not heading west for two weeks yet, (NW Montana).  

Pat, would it be ok to rough out a bow now so I can get it drying faster?....Dan

[Pat B]

Brock, if the sapwood is in good shape don't remove it. I've never made a honey locust bow but if I were to I'd use the wood right under the bark as the back.  Rawhide is always good insurance but not always necessary even for a war bow.
 Dan as long as the back and ends are sealed there is no reason not to reduce the stave for quicker drying.
 We'll be heading to the high country early Sat morning and begin out hunt that afternoon. I'll need Fri afternoon and night to rest up from my early flight out of Asheville on Friday.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

So then what's the difference between making a bow from honey locust and black locust?

I'm assuming that the honey locust doesn't have thorns and the black locust does have thorns right?

I just split, debarked, and sealed a small black locust a few minutes ago. I was going to ask about it and then I saw this thread so I decided to just post here.
Mine is almost all sapwood (white wood) because it was a young tree about 4" in diameter.

[Bob at Work]

Honey locust is way more "thorny" than black locust and not as dense...I like black locust much more for bow making...never even bothered trying a honey locust bow and have it growing everywhere on my farm.  Some trees have trunk thorns a foot long and the thorns are so thick that you have a hard time reaching the bark.
Bob

[Pat B]

Semo, generally you would remove the sapwood on black locust just like with osage. Being that your stave is mostly sapwood you should be able to get a good bow out of it just by peeling the bark and build a bow. Be sure you season the sapwood well and out of the weather. The sapwood of locust doesn't have the anti-rot properties that the heartwood does.
 The thorns on black locust are mostly on branches. Some saplings have thorns on their trunks but once they get bigger, just on the branches.  Honey locust on the other hand has whicked multi-clustered thorns all over the trunk. Honey locust has big seed pods up to 18" long that fall in the fall or early winter...and deer love to eat them. Black locust has small seed pods(4")that most folks don't even see.       Both of these trees are in the same plant family(Fabaceae) but I believe have different bow building properties...however I treat black locust like a whitewood as far as design goes when building bows with it because of it's tendency to fret is stressed.

[va]

Hey Landis -

Keep us posted on the honey locust project - I know drying time is a long drawn out affair but the bow I got from you in the Swap is eagerly awaiting it's first blood so I am sure you will make a beauty.  I cannot wait to take it out.

va

[Dan Landis]

VA, know what you mean, I feel the same way about the bow I received from Vanillabear.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Thanks guys, Pat and Bob. I was mistaken on which locust I had after reading your explanations of them. Mine had thorns all up and down the trunk so it was a honey locust and not a black locust. I went ahead and peeled it, but it's fairly knotty all over so I may not even use it?

There's plenty of both varieties here so I may just go out and find me a good straight black locust about 6-8" in diameter and cut it.
I only saved this small trunk from the honey locust because I had to remove it to get into where my osage logs were and didn't have the heart to just throw it away......waste not want not, right?

[Bob at Work]

black locust makes a great bow when tillered correctly so it doesn't fret.
have fun...  
Bob