Black Locust

[Bryan Richardson]

My neighbor just cut down a large black locust tree, the sawyers dropped this part of the tree off for me. It is about 4 feet tall and 2 1/2 feet across. I rough turned a couple bowls, but would like to ask people if they have experience working with this wood;
does it warp,split a lot?
how long do rough turned bowls need to age (with wood sealer on outside and lip of bowls)?
any other ideas for use/storage?

Thanks for your help.
Bryan Richardson

[John Shuk]

The good news is that looks nothing like any Black Locust I have ever seen.
It is a tough wood that is often full of silica and it is ornery at best.
If I were going to turn it I would bring it to final dimension and let it move where it wants to until it is dry enough to sand and finish.
The tree there looks like Hard Maple to me.

[William Bachtel]

I agree it doesn't look like locust at all. Locust is yellowish green, and harder than nails. But nice wood. I turn all locust start to finish green

[Paul Engle]

Bryan, turn to 10% finish size , pack it with the shavings and stuff in a brown bag,tape it shut and weigh it once a week and when it stops loosing weight , finish turning. I got a wet birch one soaking in Thompsons water seal , instead of DNA, think I'll let it soak 4 -5 hundred hours and then have a look see.:eek:

[George Guadiane]

I agree it doesn't look like locust at all. Locust is yellowish green, and harder than nails. But nice wood. I turn all locust start to finish green
HONEY locust is often confused with black locust when standing, and the leaves and bark are similar, could it be HL not BL???

[Bernie Weishapl]

Looks like honey locust to me. I turned quite a bit of it and it is pretty hard wood.

[Allen Neighbors]

The center part of the upright grain that I can see best looks just like Honey Locust. Don't know what the black stuff next to it is (on the right side).
Makes some beautiful bowls. I'd turn it thin to finished thickness, wet sand it to finish, and let it move the way it wants to. You can oil it when it dries, and buff it. It might just turn out to be exceptional.

[Reed Gray]

The bark also looks like Honey Locust. Black Locust is greenish yellow, and ages to an amber color. It will also glow under uv lights. Honey locust color is better for sales than the black locust. Both are pretty hard woods. I have found them to be pretty stable when drying with little cracking, and moderate movement.
robo hippy

[Bryan Richardson]

Here are a couple more photos of the wood. It could be honey locust, I am just going by what the tree people told me. I think I will turn some of it rough and some to final thickness. The wood does seem "sandy" and it is definately hard. The black area is where 1/2 of the tree broke off years ago and someone put paint on the wood.

[TYLER WOOD]

I would say black locust. Not gold enough for my personal judgement to be honey. Does it smell sweet when turning or dusty. That is the best way I have found. Sweet=honey dusty=black.

[John Shuk]

That is definately not Black Locust. As was said before the wood is greenish in black locust. Freshly cut Honey Locust is a bit more pink as shown in the second set of photos.
Honey is much better to work.

[Dick Strauss]

I vote HL. I turned my first two pieces out of that stuff. Turn as much of it as you can while it's still wet. Locust gets very hard as it dries and makes turning more challenging.