Locust Lumber

[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.

[Jemclimber]

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



 

[tule peak timber]

NICE looking deck...... 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[WDH]

That is a very fine deck.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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)

You are unlikely to get black locust logs as big as the honey locust logs you have on hand.

[mesquite buckeye]

Here is what honey locust wood looks like.

 
quarter sawn




 
rift sawn with fairly typical streaking




 
closeup of end grain
;D

[WDH]

No tyloses.  Put that in your book.  Black locust pores are full of them.   

[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.

[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)