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Does anyone know of a source of black locust wood?

Black Locust is the only american relative of the tree that produces ebony.

The heartwood is reputed to show some of the same properties only to lesser degree and more brown than black. I remember the color from my childhood in Ohio where I saw it used as part of fence line.
I think it was regarded as "trash wood" instead of a potenially valuable resource because the trees, at least in my memory, were relatively small in diameter when compared to shellbark hickory, black walnut, ash, beech, and other hardwoods.

I remember one of the local farmers commenting that he liked it for hoe and axe handles.

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I strongly recommend White Ash for axe and hammer handles and pretty much every handle on any tool you can imagine.


White Ash is a good choice and relatively available in comparion to other woods. Thank you for the suggestion.

How ever I was looking for something with an innate color and similar properties. I have found that Osage Orange (Boise d'arc) makes very good handles and hammer heads. The heart wood ranges from a light orange to an orange so dark as to be almost deep red.

Hickory is another favorite wood with excellent properties.

I was looking for a combination of toughness, color, and surface finish without going to tropical wood:
50% personal conviction and 50% advertising.
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i have always used oak or oge orange. oak is incredibly dense and strong, but on the heavy side. oak works well for knife handles and if you go over it with a blow torch it looks good too. i only have acess to osage orange and oak so those work real well. good luck finding black locust. try google-ing it.

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i didnt know osage orange wood was good for handles or that it finished so nice, i just happen to have 7 osage orange trees in my front yard )they are protected by the city nobody is allowed to cut them but when i big branch fell off when a hydro truck hit it i kept it and still have it) now i know what to use it for. boy those green brain looking things dont really look like oranges.....

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i didnt know osage orange wood was good for handles or that it finished so nice, i just happen to have 7 osage orange trees in my front yard )they are protected by the city nobody is allowed to cut them but when i big branch fell off when a hydro truck hit it i kept it and still have it) now i know what to use it for. boy those green brain looking things dont really look like oranges.....


The alternate name for it >Boise d'Arc< is french and means something like Bow wood. American Indians used it to make bows and was name by french explorers in the lower Mississippi. Both Ash and Osage orange were used to make bows by our forebearers. It is native to East Texas and the Red river Valley.
It is kind of heavy conpaired to ash but is strong and durable. I used to make walking sticks out of it when I lived in Tenn. There was a small grove that had numerous root suckers that I could harvest from without incuring any ill will.

One thing about working it. You will sometimes encounter small knots that are frustrating to finish. You may find that you will have to accept a little surface defect around the knots as the grain tears out around them. Not badly but a depression around an other wise highly polished surface.

On the other hand it lends interest and character to the handle.
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Does anyone know of a source of black locust wood?

.


No, I don't know where you can find any, but I trust that it can be found. It grows around here (Indiana) as you know, and is sometimes sold locally as fense posts. I heard on the radio a few months ago that the folks in New Jersey or someplace out there were using black locust to rebuid their board walk. Google around and you can probably find some. I noticed the wood web -- it looks like those guys might trade wood on line.
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Charlotte;

Black Locust is a legume, related to peas and beans... also of course Honey locusts. Not closely related to ebony... though it is a hard wood and dark in the heartwood. It is often available as fence post material, which should yield decent stock for handles (though green of course).

Persimmon wood IS of the ebony family and also hard and dark in the heart. I have a little that I have been wanting to experiment with but much of my stock is pretty wormy. It also tends to be difficult to get straight unbranched pieces and of decent size... once you split them down and remove the pith and sapwood it takes a bigger log than you think to yield nice handle stock. I also have the handicap of seeming to always be busy when a log is available so that the thing is all weathered when I get to it.

You might try Craig's List for a source. Or contact some of the small operators who trim and cut trees in your area. I trade with some of them for the rarer stuff that I hanker for.

Edited by bigfootnampa
add some stuff
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Though I now live in Alaska, I grew up in northern Illinois, and when my folks had their house built they had to knock down countless dozens of black locust tree's for development, and my point in mentioning this is to seek out areas of land development for houses or what not and try to find your sources there. When you find them they should be in abundance and cheap. Well I now take that back as with the raising cost of fuels it may be more of a race with the firewood mongers these days. Just a thought. Wes

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When I lived in Longview, TX, my property was bounded by a Church of Christ. It was mostly open field except for the Church, the parking lot, and the baseball diamond. They decided to clear the remaining land to expand the play ground. All they had to do was cut down 7 HUGE Bow D'Ark trees. These trees were about 3-4 FEET in diameter and had branches that hung to the ground from 10' up. They cut them down, bull dozed them into a pile and burned them. I have one small chunk about 6" x 2' and a nice walking stick that is about 1-1/2" x 5 feet. I carved a wizards face on that stick and a few of the local canines who get agressive when humans walk their block have an imprint of that face on their backsides.

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Charlotte;

Black Locust is a legume, related to peas and beans... also of course Honey locusts. Not closely related to ebony... though it is a hard wood and dark in the heartwood. It is often available as fence post material, which should yield decent stock for handles (though green of course).

Persimmon wood IS of the ebony family and also hard and dark in the heart. I have a little that I have been wanting to experiment with but much of my stock is pretty wormy. It also tends to be difficult to get straight unbranched pieces and of decent size... once you split them down and remove the pith and sapwood it takes a bigger log than you think to yield nice handle stock. I also have the handicap of seeming to always be busy when a log is available so that the thing is all weathered when I get to it.

You might try Craig's List for a source. Or contact some of the small operators who trim and cut trees in your area. I trade with some of them for the rarer stuff that I hanker for.


I stand corrected. Yes, Persimmon is of the same genus as ebony: Disopyrous.

The common or Black Locust is genus Robinia Pseudoacacia L
Black is the one with the small twin thorns protecting the leaves and buds

The big Locust trees are Honey or Water Locust they are characterized by the very large thorns at intervals along the twigs and sticking from the bark on occasion. Genus Gledistia triacanthos

What I'm looking for is the black locust. This is based on comparisions I have read, and be told, of the mechanical and working properties of the heart wood.
It was this comparison that lead me to belive that they were related. Edited by Charlotte
Correct spelling
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In response to my online inquiries I received this reply in part:
"We don't have either persimmon (since it cracks terribly when drying) or black locust (because its hard to get, expensive to ship and worth almost nothing to sell). That's probably why you aren't finding these. Personally, I think a tree in North America is just as important for the environment as one in South America. "

Since I live in Louisiana, live in a urban enviornment, and my truck was destroyed in an accident, it is difficult for me to get out and locate my own source. That is why I was asking for help. I have some inquiries out but if they don't pan out I will have to use osage orange and american walnut.
There are more significant issues involved than the writer quoted addressed and it is only his opinion after all.

Thanks for your interest,
Charlotte

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I favor using regional specific materials when ever possible. I buy local veggies, local milk, local beer, eat local meats and domestically produced goods. I hope that others will look to their local markets and domestic materials when ever possible.

We are some what handicapped buy international corporations but it is still possible to put the people next door to work rather than the slaves 12 time zones away.

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charlotte If you have osage orange in your area it is great for knife handles it is very hard and will never rot if you could get acess to old fence posts made from it they would already be dry. also those green things hanging from. If you put several in your cellar, they will repel spiders for a year or so. Leroyk

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Charlotte;

Send me your optimal and minimal stock dimensions (rough split green) for handles and I will try to get some from my persimmon stock and send it. I can also put you in touch with a few sources here (two are neighbors with small lumbering operations) that may help you.

I once cut a huge black locust from my yard back in Idaho and burned it (it burns better than coal and at least as hot too). If I remember right that tree was about 30" at the stump and quite tall. It seems like I got about seven cords of wood from it.

I read about a guy who had a sailing yacht built of it by laminating fence post rippings. His builders all disliked it but the boat was WONDROUS FAST and he sailed her around the world winning races wherever he found them and sold her to an Arab sheik.

Here's a website address for an urban-salvage-logger in nearby Saint Louis. They seem to have pretty reasonable pricing and access to a WIDE variety of timbers. It's a cool concept that I hope catches on!

Lumber Logs LLC :: A Woodfinder Supplier

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i have to recomend just getting some osage orange (bow darc i think in french). it is great wood and i have used it alot in the past.


NG,
Is this osage orange wood a very dark or near black colored wood as in ebony-like or the aforementioned black locust?
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NG,
Is this osage orange wood a very dark or near black colored wood as in ebony-like or the aforementioned black locust?


The color of "Osage Orange" varies from light orange to a very dark orange that is nearly deep red. The wood tends to darken with age. It is very tough, very strong, and rather hard. It takes a very nice polish and is durable in all conditions.

Most Knife Maker suppliers offer scales of Osage orange. I don't know what the material designated "Argentine Osage" is. It could be the same or a different species, or even a different genus all thogether.
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