black locust for frames?

[ken.bryant]

Has anyone had experience using black locust for steam-bent frames? I'm about ready to frame a Gartside 12' double-ended rowboat, frames will be about 1" by 1/2". The sawyer is recommending recently cut, 1" thick, qs black locust, which I could then cut following the grain into 1/2" flat-sawn. Advice?

[RonW]

Sounds like one hell of a good plan to me.
Did not know that black locust grew that far west.
Black locust is a premium boatbuilding wood, maybe a little heavy for small boats, but probably the most rot resistant wood available in north america. Go for it.

[landlocked sailor]

Yep, finast kind! Rick

[Frank E. Price]

My brother has black locust growing like a weed on his place in the upper Skagit Valley, western Washington. Great stuff; makes excellent belaying pins among other things. Got the old man to make me some with his router gizmo plus one out of yew. Use the locust pins all the time; the yew warped like crazy.

Frank

[Bob Smalser]

The Soil Conservation Service brought eastern Black Locust into Washington and Oregon for erosion control in the 1930's. It was used primarily in riverbottom farmland, and the Columbia valley has a lot of it.

It's the Northeast's pioneer tree...quick-growing, short-lived legumes sprouting after forest fire to enrich the soil with nitrogen before being succeeded by permanent species like fir-sitka-hemlock or oak-hickory. The Northwest's native pioneer tree is the Red Alder. As both have either buds or seeds usable by the local critters, and the locust doesn't overrun the forest as a weed tree or intoduce disease, it's one of the few non-native introductions that doesn't appear harmful.

[raycon]

Sounds like your sawyer has a good plan.

I've not seen it used in a rib cross section so small as 1 x 1/2 but I expect it will do well. After you edge out the 1/2" expect some banana-ing of the rib use that to your advantage.
Opinon of Black Locust is it holds a fastener well, steams well, stiff and strong but heavy--low shrink rate and minmal sap wood rings (2). High rot resistance but ants like it in log form. Don't breath the saw dust bad for the respiratory system. I tap it for a 1/4-20 routinely when making stuff use a .201 drill and use the tap in a screw gun works well for thnings you may want to take a part.

[johngsandusky]

Do be careful of the sawdust, driving home with a fresh sawn timber in the car once gave me a severe headache. Prolonged exposure could be dangerous.

[Thad Van Gilder]

I have. It's good stuff, but you gotta make sure to minimize the grain run out.

-Thad

[coelacanth2]

Just for the fun of it, Isteamed some strips (1x1/8x12) in the microwave to a fairly sharp curve, let them dry, and laminated them with West's. Could put the ends on the floor and park my 200+ on them without much flex. Only three plies... . The stuff is very strong and stiff.

[OEX]

I re-framed my 34 gaff cutter with BL about 2 1/4 X 21/4. I use it everywhere I can. Bends great, same as oak. Watch grain, but you do that with anything anyway. Paint it asap to stop surface checking. You can scale back the scantings since it stronger than WO.
Dust does not bother me.


Cheers, Bruce
WBRF admin