locust logs?

northwoods1 · January 17, 2011, 06:32:49 AM

One of my neighbors called me last week and said he had some locust logs he would like to get sawn up so I drive over to take a look at them. This is what he has :D

They were cut this past August . How do you think it will go, trying to saw a 30", frozen, partially dried out locust log? And for certain they will be frozen been very cold here. How much fun I am I going to be having? Is it worth it to saw these things up what could a person do with locust like this?

terrifictimbersllc · January 17, 2011, 07:16:20 AM

I wouldn't be expecting anything dramatic nor be afraid to try. Locust is the ultimate rot resistant wood great for posts, landscaping timbers, outdoor furniture that won't blow away, composter, etc. I always cringe when I see locust firewood.

northwoods1 · January 17, 2011, 07:38:23 AM

Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on January 17, 2011, 07:16:20 AM
I wouldn't be expecting anything dramatic nor be afraid to try. Locust is the ultimate rot resistant wood great for posts, landscaping timbers, outdoor furniture that won't blow away, composter, etc. I always cringe when I see locust firewood.

OK , maybe I am thinking it may be more difficult than it will actually be. I was kind of concerned about the hardness of it. He said he gave a short piece of this tree to one of the other neighbors and he took it to another fellow to get sawed and all he got was really wavy boards. I told him all I could do was try, and see what happens. When I saw I like to turn out perfect lumber

I am kind of curious if that is possible with these logs.

Norm · January 17, 2011, 07:48:10 AM

I don't find black locust to be any worse to saw up than white oak but I've never done any of that size. Ours get heart rot before they get very big.

Chuck White · January 17, 2011, 08:26:18 AM

I've sawn Black Locust, fresh cut before and it actually sawed pretty nice.

Feed speed was cut back a little from normal, usually I'm sawing White Pine.

I used the Wood Mizer 10° blades and the lumber turned out nice!

Dried and frozen might be a little different. All you can do is try it! ;)

Wrangler55 · January 17, 2011, 09:16:49 AM

Old locust logs... When I was in high school back in the 60's, we had a, over 30" in diameter, dead black locust tree in the garden. Darn thing had been dead for over 20 years. Dad paid me $5 to cut it down so we could use the space and not plow around it. A few weeks later when the money was spent, he asked when I was going to cut it down... So, I took the axe and started cutting. WHANG, the bark flew off in chunks and not much else, and the axe handle was humming like a 10 penny nail hit with a ballpeen hammer. 30 minutes later I had a good size scratch going but that tree wasn't coming down anytime soon. After long thought and some searching in a chemistry book from the 40's... I made some gun cotton. (had a heck of a time finding real cotton. Turns out cotton balls are rayon and don't make good gun cotton.) My dad was a brick contractor so I took his big drill for drilling in concrete and made a 1" hole where I'd put the hinge to drop the tree, and 3 connecting holes drilled across the diameter of the tree and intersecting with the cross hole about 1/3 of the way into the tree. I kept the gun cotton wet while working with it and packing it in all the holes. A couple of weeks later, after it dried, I put a cherry bomb in one side of the cross hole, and wrapped a nichrome wire around the fuse. Tapping the ends of my wire on a motorcycle battery brought the tree down between the rows of corn! And it was cut as slick as a chainsaw. Dad came home and asked if I wanted another $5 to cut it up... Nope, was all I said.

He rented a chainsaw and ruined two chains and a bar before he gave up. I drilled a series of 1" holes down the length of the tree, got a couple of boxes of saltpeter (KNO3) at the drug store, filled the holes with crystals and let the tree sit for almost a year. Then started a fire at the big end of the log. It smoldered like a cigarette for about a year till it was gone!

Hal

SwampDonkey · January 17, 2011, 11:32:13 AM

You know some of the wood might be waste around the big knots and then some could be pretty decent in 3 or 4 foot sections. Never know. A fellow can make a lot of stuff out of 3 foot clear boards. ;D

terrifictimbersllc · January 17, 2011, 12:51:59 PM

Quote from: northwoods1 on January 17, 2011, 07:38:23 AM
Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on January 17, 2011, 07:16:20 AM
I was kind of concerned about the hardness of it. ..........
.....
When I saw I like to turn out perfect lumber I am kind of curious if that is possible with these logs.

Maybe hard compared to other woods but not compared to a metal bandsaw blade. Don't know if it will perfect but sure it will be locust.

metljakt · January 17, 2011, 06:34:37 PM

About 1990 I paid a visit to a bud in N. Idaho. He had a mobile dimension sawmill and he wasn't doing so well. One day a marine architect showed up and asked if he had any locust. "Sure came the response, all you want". What followed next saved his business. He was swamped with orders from Seattle yacht builders. They explained that black locust was the western hemisphere's "teak equivalent". With that in mind, I'd check with the Great Lakes shops for demand.

Best of luck.

submarinesailor · January 18, 2011, 09:06:05 AM

Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on January 17, 2011, 07:16:20 AM
I always cringe when I see locust firewood.

I love it. It is just about the only firewood I burn.

One question - which locust do we have in the northern mountain of Virginia? Honey or black? Honey has 23.7 mmBTU per cord, while black has 23.5 mmBTU per cord. Note: red oak has about 22.1 mmBTU /per cord and a lot more ash after burning.

Bruce

terrifictimbersllc · January 18, 2011, 04:11:59 PM

Quote from: submarinesailor on January 18, 2011, 09:06:05 AM
Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on January 17, 2011, 07:16:20 AM
I always cringe when I see locust firewood.

I love it. It is just about the only firewood I burn.

Guess I deserved that, since I'm burning cherry this winter. :D :D :D :D :D

Magicman · January 18, 2011, 04:15:58 PM

Burning Cherry has a peculiar smell.

ljmathias · January 18, 2011, 04:27:17 PM

Yeah, burning cherry does have a funny smell, just like burning money if it came from a nice straight log... :D Wish I had me some of those big cherries you've cut in the past, MM: that's the only piece of lumber I get calls on consistently, and lo and behold, I don't have enough even for my own projects.

Lj

SwampDonkey · January 18, 2011, 04:29:19 PM

Yeah it does have a peculiar smell. Smells like almond when it smokes on a blade to. :D

Fether Hardwoods · January 18, 2011, 06:12:05 PM

Look's like fun, don't be afraid of locust I have cut that stuff that layed 3-4 years before I got it, heck I once cut a couple old fence posts, yeah there hard but no harder than dry w.oak. I run 7/8 tooth spacing super sharps not much trouble cutting it, drying it is a different story.

They told me I had to spend money to make money.........well I got half of it right.