Prepping large green Locust rounds for drying?

[Nathan Conner]

I'm picking up some large green rounds of Locust (18-25" across, 20" long - about 50-80 lbs each) tomorrow morning from a local farmer who had the 80 y.o. tree taken down over the weekend. I stopped to ask about buying some, and he's giving me a truckload of the really large pieces he's having trouble handling.

So, my question is that I'd love to get started turning some green wood right away, but there will be plenty I'm not able to get to for awhile. If I were to pick up some Anchorseal or use some wax (I have plenty of good parafin) and seal the ends, would that be enough? Should I be wrapping in newsprint and putting under a table in the shop or the shed? Or the living room?

I've heard of pith removal, and I have a decent chainsaw - should I try cutting these into small turning blocks and waxing the whole things? How and what's the easiest way to make sure this stuff is salvageable for turning in a couple of years?

I tried this with a truckload of English Walnut a few years ago, and it's still at about 24% in the middle, and there's loads of checking. So I think I ruined the majority of it. :(

If it's an option, I'm happy to turn thick blanks out of these and wrap them for 12 months...or whatever. I just want to treat it correctly and make sure I've got good project wood for future use. If I get this process down, I constantly see neighbors taking trees down and would love to get a good collection going.

[Dick Strauss]

Nathan,
I've had better luck cutting the center 2-3" out of the log to remove the pith while making two halves. Cut on either side of the pith 90% of the way through. Then cut the other side all the way through and finish the first cut. The blanks will still warp as they dry. Most cracks radiate out from the pith. So, if the pith is gone, the cracks probably won't develop in the first place.

Locust tends to be pretty stable so you have that working in your favor. However, locust gets extremely hard when it is dry so I suggest you do as much as you can while the wood is still wet.

I'm a big fan of anchorseal. I cover all of the blank except for the bark just to be safe.

Good luck with the nice score!

[Robert McGowen]

Dick gave very good advice. So good in fact, I won't even answer your question! :rolleyes:

[Allen Neighbors]

Ditto Robert.
However I'll add this comment about the hardness. I cut a black locust tree down about 5 years ago, that had been dead for about 3 or 4 years. It was only about 6 inches in diameter, and I wanted to make some bandsaw boxes from it. (before I slipped into the vortex). I started cutting just before dark, and it was dark before I finished. The saw's chain was pulling sparks out of the cut while making the last two cuts on the trunk. There wasn't any metal in it, either, so I don't know what did it... never saw wood that sparked, but that stuff's just hard, in my book.

[Burt Alcantara]

I have both black and honey locusts, most cut over a year ago. I put a light coat of Green Wood Sealer on and they are still without checks. I have a piece of honey locust that was cut about 8 months ago. I threw it on the wood pile without sealing it. No checks on that one either. This wood is very tough and very heavy.

And, very beautiful!

Burt

[Bernie Weishapl]

I also have some honey locust that I cut some 6 to 8 months ago. Make sure you get the pith out and it won't crack. Mine hasn't anyway. Anchorseal the ends for sure and about 2 to 3 inches past the end on the flat. It will get pretty hard when it dries so I try to rough turn as much as I can. Black locust gets like concrete when dry. I did 3 bowls out of it and I had to sharpen my tools many times during turning.

[Nathan Conner]

Awesome advice, guys. Thanks. I'll be picking it up today, and I'll have at it with the chainsaw (removing the pith) and then see about turning a bit of it. It is honey locust, not black. At least, I assume so from the color of the wood - looks like alder inside, though the "black" may refer to the trunk? Not sure.

Regardless. Great info. I'll let you know how it goes, and be sure to turn a bit and wrap it because I can't resist seeing how it looks, wet or not. There are a few crotch pieces that I would guess would warp and check oddly enough that I should turn them down before storing.

Gee, what a rotten day. I have to go pick up wood, prep it and turn it. AND the sun's coming up. :)

[Scott Lux]

Easiest way to tell them apart is the trunk of the tree. Honeylocust has clusters of thorns coming straight out of the trunk.


http://www.americanbushman.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=957&g2_serialNumber=1


Black has thorns at the leaf nodes.
http://biology.ucok.edu/bidlack/botany/botanypics/trees/blk%20locust%20thorn.jpg

[Nathan Hawkes]

Sounds like you've gotten good advice so far! Have fun cutting!:rolleyes: Hope you have some freshly sharpened chain. Green or dry, locust is tough stuff. It ties with hickory for firewood (no osage here). I cut about 25-30 2x6" boards for making joists for a shed a couple years ago, and got a fair amount of checking and warping that I didn't expect. Just like has already been mentioned, locust is like concrete when dry. If you have the gumption to do it now, process that wood into blanks and get them coated with a couple coats of anchor seal as soon as you can, or turn them rough soon, and DNA/paper bag them. Have fun and be safe.

[John Shuk]

Black locust is not only very hard but often has lots of silica in it as well.
It is also pretty checky.
They used to make fence posts from it and they say it will outlast the hole you stick it in.
I remember a thread from John Milunas. He made a pen from it. He said that it was the only time he ever had to sharpen 3 times making one pen.

[Scott Lux]

I've made pens, including my favorite, a candlestick, and a small NE bowl.
I love the way it looks, but it is surely tough on the tools. Tough on the sinuses too. I feel like I have a cold for 3 days after.
You'll want to sharpen often. 'Cause it eats sandpaper even faster than it eats steel!

[Clint Hood]

Black locust is not only very hard but often has lots of silica in it as well.
It is also pretty checky.
They used to make fence posts from it and they say it will outlast the hole you stick it in.
I remember a thread from John Milunas. He made a pen from it. He said that it was the only time he ever had to sharpen 3 times making one pen.

I turned this striker out of an old black locust fence post on our place....
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t314/gobblerhitman/001-13.jpg
My Dad saw this post after I pulled it up....He said it looked the same as it did when he was a kid....This property has been in our family since the 1800's, and he thinks my great-great grandfather erected this fence....Thought that was pretty neat....

[John Shuk]

Clint,
Thats pretty cool. Welcome to the Creek.
John

[Clint Hood]

Clint,
Thats pretty cool. Welcome to the Creek.
John

Thanks Mr. John! And thanks to y'all for having me....Just got started turning wood a couple of months ago, so I look forward to learning a lot from you guys....Looks to be a wealth of knowledge here....