I did a search, but it didn't answer my questions...

I just bought a bandsaw and have been playing with it on black locust
firewood I had. I cut it into "lumber" and then used the bandsaw to cut a
large spoon out of it. The firewood has been sitting split in a sheltered
location for 2 years, so I figure it is pretty dry.

Is the yellowish green color permanent, or will it change over time?

I know it is extremely outdoor resistant, but I understand that is due to
the tyloses it forms. Does it have any chemicals in it that might be toxic?

Toller wrote:
I did a search, but it didn't answer my questions...

I just bought a bandsaw and have been playing with it on black locust
firewood I had. I cut it into "lumber" and then used the bandsaw to cut a
large spoon out of it. The firewood has been sitting split in a sheltered
location for 2 years, so I figure it is pretty dry.

Is the yellowish green color permanent, or will it change over time?

I think it will fade to brown.


I know it is extremely outdoor resistant, but I understand that is due to
the tyloses it forms. Does it have any chemicals in it that might be toxic?

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.w...rch+this+group

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.w...b35f9ace633 5

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.w...9446 b7a3884a

--

FF

Black locust was sometime used to make nightsticks.

Before that, it was used to fashion pegs to anchor the mortises on post
and beam construction. Originally called "tree nails", but pronounced
"trenal"

(My copy Thomas Corkhill, _The Complete Dictioary of Wood_ says it was
a pin of cleft oak ... used to to secue the planks of a ship's deck ...
)

But that's the Brits. In the US, we can use them for barn raising or
whacking someone on the noggin.

Joel Jacobson

Toller wrote:

I did a search, but it didn't answer my questions...

I just bought a bandsaw and have been playing with it on black locust
firewood I had. I cut it into "lumber" and then used the bandsaw to cut a
large spoon out of it. The firewood has been sitting split in a sheltered
location for 2 years, so I figure it is pretty dry.

Is the yellowish green color permanent, or will it change over time?

I know it is extremely outdoor resistant, but I understand that is due to
the tyloses it forms. Does it have any chemicals in it that might be toxic?

Under eight or ten coats of dewaxed garnet shellac, ohne pound cut,
it looks
like this.

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...redDoors0.html

Without any finish it looks like the pieces in the foreground of the
first
pic on this page

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...edDoors3C.html

And the top of this drawer unit for a mortising machine with several
coats
of blonde or super blonde, I forget which, shellac.

The wood does have an odd smell and while sanding left a slightly
unpleasnat taste in my mouth. No rash, runny nose etc, though.

The stuff I have - and I've still got about 400 bf of it, has very
little
clear wood, there are pin knots all over the place. But because of
the
changes in grain direction, the finished wood is very active,
changing
its look as you move around it.

Have tried to turn some of this stuff but the grain running all over
hell
makes it tricky.

charlie b

charlie b wrote:
...
The stuff I have - and I've still got about 400 bf of it, has very
little
clear wood, there are pin knots all over the place. ...

Black Locust is a thorny tree. I wonder if the pin knots
are left over from the thorns, like needle scars in softwoods.

--

FF

wrote:


Black Locust is a thorny tree. I wonder if the pin knots
are left over from the thorns, like needle scars in softwoods.

--

That'd be my bet. Not good stuff if you want clear, straight
grain, but if strength is an issue and you like wood who's
look changes as you move around it, this stuff does that well.

charlie n

It is one of the woods that some people react to. I have one friend
that reacted to it when it was green, but not when dry. Any legume
(seed pods) can cause allergic reaction. I love to turn it, the colors
can be beautiful. It starts out greenish, and turns amber as it ages.
It is also supposed to glow under UV light.
robo hippy