I have a Black Locust tree in my yard that I am going to have removed. I am wondering about the turning characteristics of this wood and whether it is worth keeping some of the wood. any advise would be greatly appreciated.
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Black Locust
- Thread starter Tim Thor
- Start date
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
it is quite nice. I've turned some very pretty pieces from it. It can be challenging to turn if you let it dry. It's quite hard. I have a piece in the driveway right now but I'm afraid it's going to be bad before I can get to it. Got to many other things to do right now.
Robinia pseudoacacia
It is a very pretty wood, tight-grained, and finishes very well.
As John said, it is a physically hard wood, especially when dry (analogous to hickory - or "hick-crete" when it dries). Its wood is typical of and comparable to other woods of trees in the legume (pea) family as being dense and durable.
Rough-turn it soon after it is taken down, and you will be rewarded with fairly easy "second-turning" when it dries, and some beautiful figure.
I try to never "pass" on it when Robinia wood is offered to me (.....although I guess I can say that about most hardwoods!) - it's not all that common here, so it is a local "novelty" when one comes down.
Turn safely!
Rob
It is a very pretty wood, tight-grained, and finishes very well.
As John said, it is a physically hard wood, especially when dry (analogous to hickory - or "hick-crete" when it dries). Its wood is typical of and comparable to other woods of trees in the legume (pea) family as being dense and durable.
Rough-turn it soon after it is taken down, and you will be rewarded with fairly easy "second-turning" when it dries, and some beautiful figure.
I try to never "pass" on it when Robinia wood is offered to me (.....although I guess I can say that about most hardwoods!) - it's not all that common here, so it is a local "novelty" when one comes down.
Turn safely!
Rob
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It can have thorns so be careful of them.
It can be great for hollow forms and natural edge bowls. The things you turn once.
It often has a nice white sap ring and sometimes real thick bark.
Here are a couple of Sherry's bark Edge bowls from locust.
It can be great for hollow forms and natural edge bowls. The things you turn once.
It often has a nice white sap ring and sometimes real thick bark.
Here are a couple of Sherry's bark Edge bowls from locust.
Attachments
It is VERY rot resistant, about the best around here. Fine woodworking had a write-up on it. Good for garden benches and such. I looked for it around Atlanta but have yet to find any. I turned an 8" bowl a while back. Beautiful.
Along with everything mentioned above, it fumes to a rich black when green wood is exposed to ammonia fumes. If you're planning to fume it, be aware that the white sapwood will show no change at all. Turn it all away or design your piece to work with the black/white result.
Thank you all for the great information I will definitely save the wood. I guess I know what I will be doing in the near future. Turning green bowls.
Tim
Tim
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
Bob I have a log of it that needs to go. It's been sitting in the driveway for too long and probably has some good checks through out. I'm coming to Atlanta in the Lawrenceville area probably early next week. If it's not to heavy to fit on my tongue hauler I'll bring it if you want. I'll try to check it out this morning and see how bad it is and how much it weights. I could always cut it up a little smaller. Let me know if you want it and we will work something out. johnclucas@charter.net
Locust also makes excellent firewood so what you don't turn you can add to the burn pile.
If push comes to shove, black locust has the longest rot free life as a fence post. It was once used in expensive yachts with holly.
Well, from the midwest, 'A black locust fence post will wear out one fence post hole. An Osage orange will wear out two.' I don't know why they call it black because it is mostly a greenish yellow color. It does oxidize out to a nice amber color similar to Osage. Oh yes, it is hard, which mostly means that you can't hog it off like you can some of the butter type woods like Madrone or Pear.
robo hippy
robo hippy
Not sure where you shop is located, but some can have a pretty foul odor. Not sure if it's the time of year, sex, variety, or what, but I had some that was beautiful wood, but smelled a bit like a litter box.