I have a stand of locust I've been eyeing, with some nice, straight trees. It's actually getting to be quite the invasive plant in California.
My question is, since I'm new to woodworking, how would I go about turning one of these into a bow? Just cut it down, debark it and rough out a shape, then paint it and put it away for a few months (year?)
If you are talking about black locust, treat it like osage. Cut it down and split it. Then either remove the bark and sapwood and seal the back or leave the bark on and let it dry that way. Seal the ends good and it doesn't hurt to seal down 4 or 5 inches from the ends. I seal with glue but a lot of guys use shellac.
You can also reduce the stave to close to bow dimensions. Of course leave it wider and thicker than the final bow dimensions. Chase one ring on the back and seal the back good like mentioned before. Do the tips also and it doesn't hurt to seal the areas where the fades are. You've cut through the wood there and it will loose moisture quicker there. I've had them split at the fades before. Then wait for it to dry.
I'm sure you'll get a lot of good advice here. Good luck.
Aaron
I found black locust tends to get compression fractures with my poor tillering skills,,, go slow!
Here is a pic of the last snakey black locust I made several years ago. The young man was suprised getting the bow and I was suprised at his luck!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/Locustbuck13.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/snakelocusta12.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/lsnake2.jpg)
Thanks for the advice, guys, it's really helpful.
As for drying times, how long do I wait? If I rough out the bow first, I'm sure I wouldn't have to wait as long, but I don't have any idea if it's weeks or 3 months or a year...
If you rough out the bow I'd still say a few months. But it depends on how humid it is and just how close to dimensions you rough it out. I built a drying box to speed the process up. A plywood box with 3 100 watt bulbs on a rheostat switch. Insulate the box with the foil face board insulation and stick a thermometer in the top. Control the heat with the rheostat. Search on here for drying boxes and you'll find some info.
Cut a lot of wood and rough out several pieces to let dry. Then after they are dry and you are working on bows, you can let the rest of it dry out and have a good stash of wood for later on. It took a couple of years for me to get enough wood dry to have some readily available.
Osagetree, very nice bow.
Aaron
Yes, Osagetree, that is a beautiful bow. And what a shot of its (and his) success!