Black Locust

[John K Jordan]

You HAVE to mill and use this stuff (locust and BoDock (Bois d'arc ) green or it is really tough to cut afterwards. But makes some nice stuff.

I think it's helpful to remember that like many things, what one is doing can make a huge difference! If I were sawing and planing by hand, cutting dovetails with a chisel, smoothing with a spokeshave, I think I would agree with working it green as much as possible.

In general, I've found the harder and tougher the wood the cleaner it cuts and the better it takes fine detail. Almost every thing I turn (including the locusts, osage orange, dogwood, persimmon, ebony, and lignum vitae) is air dried.

Good friend Richard Casey brought me some wood he harvested in the Australian tropics and warned me of the hardness of some, in particular, Gidgee. It was in fact hard but oh, how nice it was to work! I've turned "medium-sized" things from both locust and osage, and while slower to work than soft wood like cherry, oak, or sugar maple, I didn't consider it particularly challenging. What frustrates me is soft wood prone to tearout.

Just for fun and perspective I looked up the Janka hardness (Wood Database) of some of the harder species I've enjoyed turning. I realize the Janka numbers don't tell the whole story on workability, but look how far black locust is down the list:

4,390 lbf lignum vitae (true)
4,270 lbf gidgee
3,710 lbf argentine lignum vitae
3,080 lbf gaboon ebony
2,960 lbf cocobolo
2,620 lbf osage orange *
2,300 lbf persimmon *
2,150 lbf dogwood *
2,140 lbf pignut hickory *
1,700 lbf black locust *
1,580 lbf honey locust *
1,450 lbf hard maple *
1,350 lbf white oak *
1,220 lbf red oak *
(* wood local to me)

Maybe it's just that after turning lignum vitae, everything else seems soft.

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JKJ

[Jason Mikits]

I've milled black locust to make Adirondack chairs and for the decking on my raised porch. Some I milled quickly and some I had for a couple years before milling. I love black locust and wish I could get more. My helical head planer had no issues planing it all, and it's a great outdoor wood. It does get hard when it's dry, but it's still just wood.

I think the reason Kevin had difficulties with spruce is because it can be knotty. Spruce knots play havoc if your blade isn't sharp or doesn't have enough set. These conditions can cause the blade to do a lot of waving. I had some issues with wavy spruce boards until I started using Woodmizers 4 degree blades, and changing them often.