Official Luthiers Forum!

Reading the damping thread I saw where Al Carruth referred to Locust.
Anyone use it for anything in guitar making? We have scads of it here in
Northern VA and I always considered it a scrub tree. (I also considered
sycamore, another tree prevalent along the river banks around here, useless
until I learned that it is a pretty decent tonewood although I have yet to try it
myself.)

Thanks, K

Locust is kin to Mesquite and yes, it's a great wood for smoking meats. I have a hickory tree just off my deck. It's getting harder for me to reach branches with my handsaw..... ...I truly believe in renewable resources.

Locust for guitars? Do they get big enough? Four piece backs?

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

The Black Locust as found in the Northeast (which is what Al as talking about) is a fairly good sized tree. I've seen them out on Cape Cod over a couple foot in diameter.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

K -

I have a set of Black Locust cut for guitar that, quite literally, rings better than any set of wood I have in my possession.

A local supplier has a pile of it, but doesn't want to take the time to cut it into billets (he uses it for post and beam construction in buildings), and he offered to sell me a log for $100 - about 80 board feet of lumber. I just have no clue how to deal with the entire log. It seems silly to have someone cart a portable mill there, when they have their own 70" saw.

At any rate, I am really eager to find out how Locust works as guitar wood. It is our closest domestic relative to the Dalbergias, which is a good place to start.

Caveate - it is just butt ugly, although the right finish could produce a nice warm color. On the other hand, it is the smell that brings back all those youthful memories, when we used to burn it in the fireplace, because, after all, it was just trash wood.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Don - the logs I saw were up to 30-35" in diameter. I had no idea - my sister lives down near Blacksburg, VA, and she said that as soon as they get 6" across there, they are GONE! Turned to fenceposts.

I'm not sure where the ones I saw are coming from. The supplier is Hearne Hardwoods, Oxford, PA - southeast corner of the state.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Group OLF saw up a locust log project?

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I have the sawmill, but I'm a long way away. I wouldnt mind firing it up for a good cause

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Reguards,

Ken H

Funny, that this has been brought up. I too, have been thinking of using Black Locust. Its pretty
hard wood, and I believe, that Native Americans used it for bows. The old timers around here
used it for fence posts, much the same way mid-westerners used Osage Orange.
I’ve seem some very large Black Locust here in the North Georgia mountains, and have been
keeping my open for some downed ones.

Anyway, I’d be interested in a locust project! I know a gentleman who lives very close to me,
who has already cut some back and side sets for me. It took a little practice, but, after a couple of
hours or so, we really got the hang of it. The back and side sets came out real nice, and I got them
stickered and weighed down at my shop.

Robert

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

It has been used in boatbuilding alot, as has honey locust(to a lesser degree I think, but am unsure).
I believe its quite prized for this, from the boatbuilders Ive spoken with here in the PNW, it doesnt grow that well here... not as well as it does in the Southern and Eastern US,,
Id love to hear how it works in guitars, please let us know if you use it,,, or anyone who has.
Cheers
Charlie

I've always use it for fence posts. Supposed to be very rot resistant, but it will rot. Most of the black locust I see here in Michigan is only 8 to 10 inches in diameter. But I do know of some along side the road around here that are probaby 16-18".

Ever since Alan mentioned black locust I've been on the lookout for larger trees....still looking though. If I get a chance I'm going to aquire some.

The stuff I've seen has very green colored heartwood. Does the color change as it seasons?

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Horton, MI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_locust

Here's some info...

By the way the blossoms smell really nice in the spring.

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Horton, MI

Actually Locust, Mesquite, Tas. Black Acacia, Koa and many others are all Acacias. And most if large enough will make fine tonewood. Acacias tend to be very stable lumber. Some better than others.

[QUOTE=jtkirby] Caveate - it is just butt ugly, although the right finish could produce a nice warm color.

Jim[/QUOTE]
Jim, When you say butt-ugly, do you mean "homely" as in "plain-Jane", or do you mean "I wouldn't touch Jane with a ten foot pole" ugly?

I grew up in Ohio, and so that is one of the trees of my childhood (along with Shagbark Hickory, if I can ever find some) that I would love to try - ugly or not.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

I have about 2000 bdft of hickory, but it is pignut, not shagbark. None of it is very wide though. At some point I have been looking at trying a 3 or 4 piece back hickory guitar out of it. I may even try some necks made with it.

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Reguards,

Ken H

There is yellow locust growing here in the Mountains of NC. It has a golden hued wood and is hard as the mischef. It comes as big as the walnuts that also grow here. Very durable, with the proper glue it could make an outdoor guitar. I am thinking that if it was dressed up a little with proper binding it could make an excellent guitar. The taptones are great.

 I have a local sawmill that has some right now. I am going to email him and see how big it is. It is black locust and grows pretty big here in southern New York state. I have burned it for firewood and it has a green color when fresh cut. I think it has a low moisture content when cut and can be burned with little seasoning. It has a similar grain pattern to ash. It is worth checking out I will keep you posted if I manage to get some big enough.

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Mistakes are mandatory-learning from them is optional. http://www.opensourceluthiersupply.com

Dennis - I may have been harsh in my judgement. Let me pull out what I have (2 sets I think). Now that I have a sander, I'll get the backs to a decent smoothness and then slap on some mineral spirits and take pictures. I've never done that and am sort of curious myself.

Now that I've promised this, I hope it's not all the way at the bottom of the zoot pile It will be at least tomorrow evening and maybe Friday evening before I have a chance to get to it.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Yes, it was our preferred firewood when I was a kid because of the smell. There was a lot of it where I'm from (Eastern Shore of MD) - it was pretty much the most common
randomly growing tree outside of densely forested patches.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

[QUOTE=MichaelP] Actually Locust, Mesquite, Tas. Black Acacia, Koa and many others are all Acacias. And most if large enough will make fine tonewood. Acacias tend to be very stable lumber. Some better than others.[/QUOTE]

Actually, locust is not in the Acacia genus. It's in the same family as the acacia's (Fabaceae), but in a distinct subfamily from them.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I used some honey locust for a small project one time and man was it hard stuff. I think it dulled every tool that touched it. It looked a lot like oak or ash and with a light stain I was able to mix oak and locust in the same piece.

Not sure if I would ever try to work with it again or not.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Here are pics of the two sets I have. I'll have to retract the butt-ugly comment. It has a nice color under mineral spirits - reminiscent of myrtle.

The smaller of these two sets is longing to be a flamenco - it's going to be too thin to be anything else before I get all the saw marks out    Ukelele?

The first set backs are over 9" wide.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I just had nine Black Locust cut down on my property--at least 5 were 3 feet across at the base. I ahve 5 trees remaining and one is huge, probably 70' high with a trunk that is a t least 4' across. That stuff is sooooo hard, my chainsaw throws sparks and the chains are ruined in short order. I've got some huge trunk pieces laying in teh yard I was going to burn in the pit for campfires--maybe I'll try to cut a few into billets and see what it looks like?

[QUOTE=af_one] I just had nine Black Locust cut down on my property--at least 5 were 3 feet across at the base. I ahve 5 trees remaining and one is huge, probably 70' high with a trunk that is a t least 4' across. That stuff is sooooo hard, my chainsaw throws sparks and the chains are ruined in short order. I've got some huge trunk pieces laying in teh yard I was going to burn in the pit for campfires--maybe I'll try to cut a few into billets and see what it looks like?[/QUOTE]

Where are you? I'd take a few billets off your hands.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

af_one,

I’d be interested in that locust too!

Robert

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

I'd be interested in some black locust also.  It would be good to see some kind of a group thing come together.  I really think that it makes a lot of sense to start learning about North American tonewoods and what better way to do than make some guitars! 

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC