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Locust Lumber

Started by bigD, January 09, 2015, 08:11:20 AM

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bigD

I have access to a lot of Locust (some 24" or more) does anyone have any pictures of lumber and projects they have done with Locust? 

Chuck White

I've sawed some, but for other customers, not myself.

It's a very pretty wood, sorta looks like treated lumber when sawing on the mill, has a pretty green hue to it!

It's very hard when dried.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

bigD

Thanks Chuck,
Considering trying to make some lap siding to finish a man cave in my basement?

jrose1970

That would be some valuable wood. I use it for fence and barn posts. I've actually seen the chain
spark when cutting dried locust with a dull chainsaw. LOL
HFE-36; International 424-37HP; McCullogh Pro 10-10

jdtuttle

Makes great outdoor furniture too. Rot resistant.
Have a great day

Den-Den

Are we talking about Black Locust or Honey Locust? 
You may think that you can or may think you can't; either way, you are right.

Tom L

I've sawed some, made a 5 x 5 post 10 ft long for the front of a friends commercial boat, he bonded it vertical from the hull to outside of the front deck, to secure lines too. the last one he had lasted 30 yrs in a salt water environment.

one thing , it took me 4 logs to get one post that was clear , the rest of the material I made into some boards and 4 x 4's . the lumber is pretty and seems to dry straight. may use it for some projects around the house this summer.

terrifictimbersllc

Member alanh made a big deck out of locust I sawed up for him.  Read down in this thread and look for some pictures.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,55081.msg798357.html#msg798357
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

Ron Wenrich

I've sold some to a guy that built swing sets.  24" boards are rather unusual for black locust.  They're usually rotten or full of shake by the time the tree is that size.  If you use if for paneling, you'll have a nice effect if you turn on a black light. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

mesquite buckeye

Here is a piece of black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia , from the Missouri farm used in an art piece frame I made for Darlene. 

 
I think this is pretty typical. The wood was oiled with Watco©, so the color is close to natural. The wood is strong, very hard and quite rot resistant. The only downside I have noted is it has a tendency to chip out when machining, so a bit of a tendency to split. Sharp blades and thin cuts help. As mentioned previously, big black locust trees frequently contain rot. Commonly at some time during the tree's life it will get attacked by locust borers, after which they frequently are attacked by the heart rotting fungus Phellinus robiniae. The presence of the heart rotting fungus is typically evidenced by the presence of conks (shelf fungus) growing on the tree trunk. Trees with big or numerous conks are typically useless for lumber.

Honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos , is a much larger tree with very different wood. :P ;D :P
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

bigD

I'll get pictures once I get going.  Some trees have lots of thorns others have none or a few on the smaller branches. 
Beings that it gets hard I'm wondering if its best to wait until I have an order or need it before cutting it? 

Ron Wenrich

Sounds like honey locust.   Black locust will have some thorns on the branches, especially in the sapling stage.  But, there are no thorns on the bole of the tree.  I've seen those on honey locust boles.

I'm told that they use to plant honey locust along field edges to act as feed for livestock.  That seems to make sense.  I've only sawn honey locust one time.  Some really nice lumber, but it has a tendency to split.  I made a rear rack for my tractor out of honey locust.  Those boards are FAS and 10" wide.  It has a nice reddish hue to it. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Tom the Sawyer

Mills fine, pretty lumber.  This is honey locust.


 
07 TK B-20, Custom log arch, 20' trailer w/log loading arch, F350 flatbed dually dump.  Piggy-back forklift.  LS tractor w/FEL, Bobcat S250 w/grapple, Stihl 025C 16", Husky 372XP 24/30" bars, Grizzly 20" planer, Nyle L200M DH kiln.
If you call and my wife says, "He's sawin logs", I ain't snoring.

Verticaltrx

I mill some black locust for things around the farm, posts, skids, sill boards, etc. If you get some that is in good shape it's basically a direct replacement for treated lumber IMO. As a post it will last 30+ yrs, above ground probably 50+yrs, very rot resistant.

Mill it as soon as possible after cutting, it gets extremely hard when dry.
Wood-Mizer LT15G19

bigD

My cousin is the one that has it all.  if I cut it, saw it and sell it what % should I give him?

PC-Urban-Sawyer


dgdrls

Hi Big D,

here is a thread I posted for some locust I sawed a while back.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,68597.msg1028693.html#msg1028693

I love the stuff, Black is tough as nails and great stuff for decks and deck posts etc.

Best
DGDrls


jmouton

    i dont know if its relavent   but when we cut black locust here in mich ,   its a stinky wood  dont know if it stays in the wood when it drys and then you use it in a basement or man cave ,   it did smell pretty bad  when we cut it ,,,just my 2 cents worth


                                                                                                        jim
lt-40 wide ,,bobcat,sterling tandem flatbed log truck,10 ton trailer, stihl 075,041,029,066,and a 2017 f-350,oh and an edger

hunz

I have sold approximately 4,000 bd/ft 4/4 material in the last year; black locust that is. It sounds like you may have honey as others have suggested. It can be rather tough sometimes to get clear 8' boards. It only takes one borer or a little bit of heart rot to ruin a log for decent lumber yield. I find that places where a branch connects to the log also often are a hotspot for rot to set in, in most cases it goes deep into the log.

If you do have black locust, be prepared to be VERY busy with orders. I currently have a few for locust, and most customers are willing to wait a few months until I have time. Around here some see it as a commodity.
Dream as if you'll saw forever; saw as if you'll die today.



2006 Woodmizer LT40D51RA, Husqvarna 372xp, Takeuchi TL140

bigD

i'll be out in the morning surveying the potential trees.  I will get some pics and get them on here.
Just lost my job today so I'm hoping it's the man upstairs telling me to go cut wood.

Thanks for all the info and pictures.  You guys got me excited.  I feel bad now that last year I cut about 7 of them up for fire wood.

FarmingSawyer

I just got an "order" for locust from a boat builder. It's a standing order for any I can find. I wish I'd know a month ago....3 nice logs slipped through my fingers and a tree service guy sawed them into firewood. I would have doubled his hourly rate to NOT chunk them up!! We don't get that much big locust here, so send up any spares......
Thomas 8020, Stihl 039, Stihl 036, Homelite Super EZ, Case 385, Team of Drafts

bigD

Framingsawyer wish I lived closer.  I've been all over the world but never made it to Maine.  I could always use a trip there though. 

bigD

hunz i sure hope its black also. 

mikeb1079

honeylocust is beautiful furniture wood.  don't be too disappointed if it is.   :)
that's why you must play di drum...to blow the big guys mind!
homebuilt 16hp mill
99 wm superhydraulic w/42hp kubota

mesquite buckeye

A particularly nasty honey locust on my MO farm. The spines stop somewhere between 15-20 ft up where the elephants can't reach them. Works pretty well.

 

Black locust stump and logs. More standing trees nearby. 

 


A big old honey locust wolf tree with a 6 ft diameter trunk.


 
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

jrose1970

Good luck with your career there BigD. Sorry about the job.
My job, though, is what keeps me from doing wood full time, so you may be the lucky one. LOL
HFE-36; International 424-37HP; McCullogh Pro 10-10

Jemclimber

I like black locust very much and wish I had more.  I used it for the decking on my upper deck.



 
lt15

tule peak timber

NICE looking deck...... 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
persistence personified - never let up , never let down

WDH

That is a very fine deck.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Jemclimber

Thanks! My daughter and I plan to make some Adirondack chairs with matching wood. Hopefully we can finish them in time to get some use out of them this summer.
lt15

bigD

Thanks JRose, I'm sure it will.  Jemclimber that is very nice.

Broke out the ol' antiquated laptop but still struggling with the photos.

designgreen

and that is a beautiful deck. You must have stained it?

bigD

Finally figured this photo thing out I think.



 



 

One of the bigger ones.


 

 

  



 

mesquite buckeye

For sure honey locust. ;D
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

gfadvm

I thought that honey locust was the one that had the trunk covered with thorns and black locust just had some small thorns out on the small limbs?  I just cut some of the thorny trunk stuff and the lumber looks like your pics.

mesquite buckeye

When they get old and they grow slow, the thorns can disappear. There are also thornless forms of honey locust. Compare the bark with the black locust log. The bark of black locust is what I would call ropey. Honey locust bark is platey.

Honey locust thorns are multi pointed, really branched. A tree that has them on the trunk grows a new crop of them along the trunk every year until the tree gets pretty old. Black locust spines are paired and are generally gone by the time the tree matures except on smaller branches.
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

dgdrls

Thornless variant of Honey Locust,

DGDrls

Jemclimber

As others have said the ones you have pictured are definitely Honeylocust and not Black locust.  Much different lumber/wood characteristics.  Honeylocust does not have the rot resistance that Black locust does for one.

@designgreen Yes it is stained with TWP california redwood color. I believe the color is most representative of the actual wood color when the wood is wet and has been milled and in the sun for just a bit. It turns that orangish golden honey color.  I really like the color and look of Black locust on outdoor projects.
lt15

bigD

so is it still worth my time?  I was going to cut some 6x6 for post for my sawmill shed?

mesquite buckeye

If the posts sit on concrete, no problem. If you are planning on burying them, I would at least treat them before putting them in soil contact. Honey locust is really nice wood in my opinion. I just wouldn't use it for anything exposed to the weather. You could use it for framing, roof sheathing, anything protected from the weather. Also makes nice interior finish or furniture. I'd saw it with these things in mind. ;D

Black locust weathers like teak. You can bury it, make decks with it, very durable outdoors. One of the best. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

You are unlikely to get black locust logs as big as the honey locust logs you have on hand.
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

mesquite buckeye

Here is what honey locust wood looks like.

 
quarter sawn




 
rift sawn with fairly typical streaking




 
closeup of end grain
;D
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

WDH

No tyloses.  Put that in your book.  Black locust pores are full of them.   :)
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Napowan

I love cutting black locust and take any that I can get.  I usually cut into 4x4 for posts or for outdoor projects around the house.  Incredible strength and durability.  IMO, superior to treated lumber.
There's never nothing to do.

reubenT

we have a lot of black locust,  use it for everything exposed, like treated lumber,  posts,  barn and shed poles.  Made a handle for one of my cant hooks from it.   It's slightly harder than hickory in PSI rating.  A hammer handle I made from it lasted awhile,  started to break,  but then lasted a long time half broke, It's tough wood.    I use locust poles for loading logs on trucks or trailers from a bank, a relatively small pole will hold a pretty heavy log.    An old barn remains that was probably up toward 100 years old had a few posts left.  Most were rotted off at ground level but the underground part was hard as a fresh post.   The moisture preserved it,  freezing and thawing of the wet wood at ground level breaks up the fiber and gradually deteriorates it.  Very useful wood.   When I build the greenhouses I'm planning on,  I'll use locust timbers for the main frame for strength and cedar to fill in between,  since cedar is a good rot resistant wood and easy to work with,  but quite weak. (twin or triple wall polycarbonate for glazing)

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