anybody ever mill black locust?

[safetyboy715]

Just wondering if any of you folks out there have milled black locust. What kind of lumber is it? What does it look like? and any other things you could say about about it would be interesting to know.

 

[mad murdock]

Havent milled any "yet". My neighbor has several trees he wants to take down. It is hard, durable and dense wood. I know as fence posts, they last for eons! Maybe would make nice bridge timbers? That is what I will use them for if I get around to messing with it.

 

[820wards]

Just wondering if any of you folks out there have milled black locust. What kind of lumber is it? What does it look like? and any other things you could say about about it would be interesting to know.

Never milled any, but have used limb pieces for turning wine toppers. If you had pieces large enough to mill, do it. You could use it for end/coffee tables. You won't know if it's any good unless you try and if you do mill any, please post a picture or two. I would like to see what a larger piece looks like. The wood I have turned/clear finished has a black hue color, and grows like a weed on the sides of rural roads here in CA.

jerry-

 

[safetyboy715]

Never milled any, but have used limb pieces for turning wine toppers. If you had pieces large enough to mill, do it. You could use it for end/coffee tables. You won't know if it's any good unless you try and if you do mill any, please post a picture or two. I would like to see what a larger piece looks like. The wood I have turned/clear finished has a black hue color, and grows like a weed on the sides of rural roads here in CA.

jerry-

I have lots of it in WIsconsin as well. I have used it for firewood and It is great. Maybe I will try to mill some in the future though. I'll let you know what it is like. Again, thanks.

 

[excess650]

I ran some across the bandmill for fence posts. This was the tops that blew out of some pretty large trees, and the owner didn't want the remainder of the trees taken down. I think it could have some interesting coloration if you had big enough trees that were solid.

 

[DavdH]

The R Rs planted them as they laied track as future ties. It lasts a long time as sleepers in contact w/ground, tough, dense lumber. Looks good also.

 

[jrcat]

It is yellowish green when green to yellow when dry very hard the drier it gets the harder it cuts. It also tends to warp badly I had some sawn for decking on my trailer. The longer I let it sit the more it warped. As many others have said it lasts forever. I cleared an old vineyard of posts and the old coot who owned it said some of those posts his dad put in when he was a kid. He was 80 something so he figured some of those posts to be in the 100 year old range. Still solid. mad good fire wood. The older and larger these trees get thy seem to have deep furls and folds and break up when felled. just my 2 cents

 

[Daninvan]

I've milled up a couple smaller logs with my chainsaw mill a few years ago, nothing recently.

There are some pictures here, my experience is that the wood is more like the lighter coloured samples on that page. The grain is quite prominent.

It is hard, its Janka number is about the same as apple, quite a bit harder than hard maple, oak, etc. But no particular trouble for a chainsaw mill.

I have found it quite stable once it is dried, although the losses due to splitting as it dried were a bit high. It also seems to have a lot of tannin or something in it (probably the reason why it made/makes good railway ties) that winds up on my hands pretty readily while working it.

Although I am not a turner, I believe it is popular with the bowl turners.

 

[BlueRider]

its very stable once dried but it can take 2x as long as any thing else of similar thickness to dry which might account for some people saying it is not stable. It is also prone to ring shake when being felled but I would not say it is particularly prone end checking.

it has an almost overpowering spicy scent when milling but that tones down a lot once dry. the color of the dry wood will have a bit of a greenish tone when first cut but it will mellow a bit over time and take on a bit more of a golden tone with darker streaks that can be almost black. I think it has an almost exotic look not unlike goncoalves or grenadillo.

It is not dificult to work with. it cuts planes and sands well.

 

[D Dubeau]

Take some of your Black locust and stick it under a black light. It glows bright yellow (if freshly cut) but fades over time. Interesting fact I found out when my Father in law made us a few Christmas gifts (carvings) from some 2 years ago. They don't glow much anymore, but when we got them the heartwood was bright yellow under a black light. Pretty neat actually. I think mulberry does it too, but I'm not 100% on it. maybe a few more species as well?

Keep that in mind if making anything our of black locust, it could be a very cool feature for anything you make from it.

 

[BobL]

I milled some back in 2008 (should be dry by now!)
Here's the thread showing a few pics.

 

[Tarheelbilly]

Locust fence posts

We bought 50 or so black locust fenceposts from an amish lumber yard, made a mistake by band milling them in halves and quarters, they rotted fairly quick. They last forever if you just peel em and set em in the ground, not so much with the grain exposed. Was a huge waste of some great timbers. God to read about it used for lumber/woodworking projects.