Black Locust

[Jamie Straw]

Anyone who's turned Black Locust, your thoughts? I just brought home enough to do a dozen bowls. Can get more Tuesday but have heard mixed reviews from 2 people.

 

[Marc Himes]

I have turned several pieces and like it very much. It is a hard wood when dry and has a prominent grain pattern which can give some interesting effects if you do any fluting or grooving on the piece. Here is a sample of a vase that I grooved and dyed.

 

[hockenbery]

I suggest turning it green as NE bowls or hollow forms.
On twice turned pieces it gets really hard when dry but is still worth doing.
it is on the heavy side for functional bowls.
Some pieces have fairly thick bark if you want that on the NE bowls.

Similar to Osage orange(Bodark in the French colonies)

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I have some of that also, mostly in the form of pepper mill blanks. Turns nicely when it's green, find that it shrinks quite a bit, so it will be out of round if you're green turning and then finish turn.

This is something that Al knows way more about that I do, but for me, I make sure to turn a fairly thick wall and dry with a wrapped rim in a box of shavings left partially open.

I think it's very attractive finished end it is pretty dense and heavy, but I don't mind that a bowl has that characteristic. I find it's pretty tough on tools so you'll be sharpening a lot.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Just to be pedantic here, Bodark has its roots in the French "bois d'arc". Down here it is commonly pronounced in the sort of French Cajun that is unfortunately less and less common : "BWAH DARK".

 

[Dale Miner]

For me, it is not worth the effort. There are other woods that are more attractive when finished, are easier to turn, and have much higher crack free drying success.

Try a couple pieces though, your experience may differ from mine.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Dale has a valid point there. But..

If it's free then your only investment is time. If you don't like the result or the turning of it then I'll bet someone you know would like it.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

Jamie,

This is a 4" bowl I turned from green with microwave drying. It warped a bit in the drying. The interior was re-turned after drying. In the picture, see the difference in the rim thickness after re-turning the inside. Left to right the thickness is just over a 1/16", top to bottom about 1/8".

IMO, great wood to turn. Nice color and grain pattern.

If you have any extra I'd gladly take a trip over to Bainbridge to get some.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Doug,

That's a nice bowl. Looking at it, I am reminded of mulberry also.

 

[robo hippy]

Black Locust is pretty hard, but not 'Bodark' which is another name for Osage Orange. It can be greenish/yellow to yellowish, and that color doesn't sell well for me. As it ages it goes amber similar to Osage. That color does sell better. Some can be allergic to it. Makes great fence posts, mallets, and can be used for long bows.

robo hippy

 

[Hugh]

Jamie.......love Black Locust wood. I try to cut the bowl blanks with the heart pretty well centered. Then I just turn them to finished thickness. Let it sit for a few minutes and you can sand it. Maybe have to sand by hand when it dries out with very fine grits. Dry the finished bowl slowly. I wrap with a old towel and put it into a plastic bag. Change the towel every day. You might have to level the foot when it dries. Put a piece of sand paper on a bench and pull the bowl across to flatten the foot.
When wet....cuts like a dream.
I make rolling pins out of long chunks. People love it. Very hard and heavy. Makes great carving mallets.
Dry......very hard wood.
Way back when they made wood boats.....they used to use Black Locust wood for the pins holding the wood together.
Leave a little sap wood on the bowl and the sap wood will stay white with the yellow wood. The yellow will darken with exposure to UV light. Turns a nice rich brown.
Get all you can. Scraps make great firewood.
Hugh

 

[Jamie Straw]

I have turned several pieces and like it very much. It is a hard wood when dry and has a prominent grain pattern which can give some interesting effects if you do any fluting or grooving on the piece. Here is a sample of a vase that I grooved and dyed. View attachment 20501

Wow, love the vase! Tell me about the dye.

 

[Jamie Straw]

If you have any extra I'd gladly take a trip over to Bainbridge to get some

How much makes it worth the trip? I might have taken more than I can turn soon. But also, there's at least one more, perhaps two, coming down in the next few months. PM me, let me know what you're thinking.

 

[Jamie Straw]

thanks all for the tips, one hand typing is slowing me down. More questions/responses later!

 

[Jamie Straw]

On twice turned pieces it gets really hard when dry but is still worth doing.
it is on the heavy side for functional bowls. Some pieces have fairly thick bark if you want that on the NE bowls.

I've turned 3 of the small pieces (8" or so), they'll be twice-turned. I've seen pictures of NE bowls from Black Locust with the bark, but wow -- the bark on these pieces is really thick and hilly. Seems like if I want to turn one NE, I should turn it to final thickness. Yes or No?? It's not been too difficult for regular turning so far. The tree has been down for more than the month the owner stated, but there's perceptible moisture in the shavings. The first bowl was drier, the two I did today pretty moist.

 

[Jamie Straw]

Black Locust is pretty hard, but not 'Bodark' which is another name for Osage Orange. It can be greenish/yellow to yellowish, and that color doesn't sell well for me. As it ages it goes amber similar to Osage. That color does sell better. Some can be allergic to it. Makes great fence posts, mallets, and can be used for long bows.

robo hippy

The original color is not appealing, I'll give you that for sure! I think I'll probably try fuming a couple of pieces, it might be attractive (similar to the chestnut bowl that seems to intrigue people). The search I did for images of BL bowls turned up some interesting specimens. The grain is striking, and a couple of people took advantage of that in unexpected ways.

 

[hockenbery]

Seems like if I want to turn one NE, I should turn it to final thickness. Yes or No?? It's not been too difficult for regular turning so far. The tree has been down for more than the month the owner stated, but there's perceptible moisture in the shavings

I go for final thickness and turn NE once. Most of NE have oval shapes and the warping as the green wood dries accentuates the oval. Most NE Bowls are turned once. I sand off the lathe when the bowls are dry. These are organic shapes deriving much of their design from the way the bark edge is lined up on the lathe.

There are some people who turn NE bowls twice.

 

[Mike Johnson]

My back yard has turned into a small lumber yard over time, after a while you become more selective with the wood
that you want to spend the effort on even when it is free. At the same time it is always good to add to your inventory
of wood types to have on hand curing out for those future projects. You can always do some horse trading with other
woodworkers when you have a variety of wood types on hand. You also need to plan ahead by several years to add
to your inventory of wood being cured for your yearly needs. I use larger dimension billets so planning my needs is
critical in having the billets on hand for the products being turned. I also do some segmented pieces so a variety of
wood types is a plus when crafting a new project.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I've been trying to figure out the ID of some wood that was given to me and judging from the pictures posted by Al and Doug, black locust seems like a likely suspect that I hadn't considered. It has very thick bark with vertical ridges. The sapwood is nearly white and about one inch wide on a 15" log. The heartwood is ring porous with a wavy pattern and when unfinished it has the color in Al's piece. I applied a walnut oil finish and it turned a rich brown like Doug's bowl. The amount of darkening caused by using the walnut oil really surprised me. I have been at a loss to ID this wood, but never considered black locust before. Can anybody confirm th amount of darkening with an oil finish?

 

[hockenbery]

So many woods look alike as they age and the leaves are a distant memory.
Could be butternut a walnut cousin. ( has a chambered pith like walnut)
Butternut is softer than the other possibilities.

Osage orange and mulberry turn brown too.
There are other locust too.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Even with a full color reference book on trees and wood it can be a challenge at times to identify wood types considering the number of species around the world. Having some bark to examine narrows the identification process down, along with a leaf or seed will narrow the search further.

 

[Bill Boehme]

The heartwood had a variegated look before applying the walnut oil. It immediately turned dark brown when I application the oil. The wood seems to be semi ring porous with somewhat irregular rows of pores.