Black Locust Surprise

[Jon Finch]

The surprise was to find just how beautiful this wood is! Wow, I had no idea such a scrubby looking tree had such beauty beneath the bark. The end grain on the log looked an awful lot like oak (very open porous grain) which I don't much care for. To my surprise it ended up looking nothing like oak :D.
But it was a bugger to turn. The wood was mostly dry and harder than the back of my head!

Will it stay this warm yellowish/orange color?

Comments welcome (I think the foot's too small).
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[John Keeton]

Jon, your are a better man than I!! I would sooner turn a piece of cast iron than locust!:eek: When I first started this journey, I picked up a piece of seasoned locust from the firewood pile, and stuck it in the lathe - beat me to death!! It was a short experience, and the piece quickly ended up back in the firewood pile!

You did a great job on this one, and on the foot, don't know how a larger one may have worked with the hole and depression in the wood? Looks fine to me, and I really like the way you rolled the inside to the rim. And, as you say, beautiful color. You deserve some kind of an award for taking this to a finished piece!!

[Baxter Smith]

Very pretty bowl Jon! The black locust is quite hard and strong. I made wooden pegs out of it on my shaving horse for one room of my house when I built my timberframe. With time, it should become much deeper and richer than oak.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty. That is funny Jon because my first bowl was black locust. I almost quit turning because of it. I think I could have turned a piece of concrete easier than that wood. Like John it about beat me to death but boy was it purdy when finished.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jon - real nice looking bowl! Great looking wood!

The size of the foot varies depending on function - if for everyday use (utilitarian) then it would benefit from a larger diameter foot area. If turned for display/art - then the foot is more a part of the design aspect and is used more to elevate the piece than keep it from tipping.

All that to say - I like the foot as is. Nice work!

[Baxter Smith]

Jon, here are a couple pictures of black locust in red oak. Yours should be very near this color in less than 25 years.:)

[David E Keller]

Really pretty bowl and I love the wood... sometimes it's worth a little physical abuse to get a finished project. I like the foot as it is, but Steve is right about the practicality of a larger foot for utilitarian pieces(of course he's right... he's Steve).

[curtis rosche]

wet locust is very nice to turn. it is see through with light when thin, and it warps really well

[Jon Finch]

Thanks for the comments and photo. My wife likes the foot as is too (but I think the bowl is leaving our house so...). I wanted to make it a little larger then it turned out but a little slip with the gouge when finishing the foot resulted in a design change.

As much of a bugger as it was to turn, I'll be seeking out more B locust in the future!

[Roland Martin]

I like the shape of the bowl and the color. I've never seen black locust turned, I'm not sure if it grows in Maine. From Baxter's photo, it looks like it'll age very well.