Locust for gun stock

[Old Ford2]

Can honey locust or black locust be used for gun stock material.
I know it is heavy, but the red of the wood should be very prominent.
There is a lot of locust in this area of Ontario.
I know having three or four honey locust trees, I can corner the thorn/tooth pick market
Fred

[smylee grouch]

This very subject was brought up here a couple of years ago and the general concensus was that using it for gunstocks would ruin a good fence post. There should be others here who will agree with me but it would make an interesting gunstock.

[galamb]

Have no experience with Honey Locust but have used Black Locust in boat building.

It's hard, heavy and doesn't rot, all good qualities in the hull of a boat.

However, it's very hard to work with, hard on tools, the sawdust from it is toxic, the wood is somewhat (oily) so it's difficult to bond without prep work which leads me to believe it would be difficult to stain (never tried).

Not qualities you are looking for in a stock blank.

[JBJ]

As a general and handy reference, bookmark the following:
http://www.wood-database.com/wood-identification/

Scrolling to the very bottom will reveal topics such as safety and allergies. Useful site for a quickie reference.

J.B.

[Acer Saccharum]

I think it's very abrasive, not so bad to cut when wet, but once dry, will take the edge off your tools.

I've never seen a locust stock. You could be the first!

[Keb]

I've made some bows of it. It's good bow wood but I'd think 2x before making a gun stock out of it.

[rich pierce]

Black locust is one of the most stable of woods once seasoned. It would be both terrific and ugly as the devil for a bench or over the log gun. Honey locust is not in the  same league, just as silver maple is not sugar maple.  Black locust has no interesting grain or color.  As said above, it makes great bows when carefully crafted.

I don't find it that hard on tools but then again I work a bit of Osage orange.  My draw knives and scrapers and spokeshave a hold up pretty well on all these woods.  That is different from other folks experiences so am not sure what's up with that.  Of course all that work is with the grain on a bow and working cross grain would challenge an edge with an angle intended for most hard maple.  It would take a long time to do any inletting on black locust.  You'd be lucky to be able to stab more than a 64th" deep each pass.  We used black locust as fence posts on our farm and most of the time could not drive a staple straight into the wood.  It would end up bending over.

Most odd woods were not used for gunstocks for good reasons.  Gunsmiths wanted to use wood that was abundant in good sized logs, had the right density, work-ability, toughness, stability, carve-ability, and beauty.  Black locust fails on abundance in good sized logs, density (too high), workability, and beauty.  I suppose it could be carved but it's plain as poplar.

[halfstock]

Black Locust = Great bow wood, I know because I have a plain self bow of same wood and have been offered $500 for it. But from looks I doubt would be much good for rifle, to many variables.

[54Bucks]

 I think you are in un-charted waters using Locust to stock a gun. I've seen a lot of interesting Black Locust grain and figure. But most of it was black grain thru variations of green and white. No idea what color could be achieved on a piece that was mostly green. Sure is tough,heavy, strong, and burns well. Personally regarding what many old gunmakers used....I'de guess availability was #1. Based on what has survived it seems maple was most widely used. But I'm not sure if what has survived of originals rifles is indicative of what they made most. I would guess that simple uncarved/undecorated guns were more prominate than what survived by mostly staying on someones wall. If that predominant green color of our local Black Locust could be stained somehow.....I think black locust could be a unique serviceable stock. But I've never seen anything that resists a hammered nail like a piece of old dry locust. It's probably reaaaaal tough to machine or shape.

[Old Ford2]

Thank you all for your valued input.
Sadly now the muzzleloading world will not be shattered by my great innovation.
Back to my most humble works.
Fred

[Bob Roller]

Locust MIGHT make pistol grips for a big frame S&W or Colt.

Bob Roller

[Kermit]

Black locust is a useful species in traditional boats. I've used it for block cheeks, tunnels, cleats, and thole pins--can't think of any other uses offhand. Tough, hard, dense, long wearing. When I was contemplating building a treadle lathe, I was wondering about it for bearings.

[Acer Saccharum]

Of course, lignum vitae was the wood of choice for propeller shaft bearings back in the day. Super dense, and a naturally oily wood, it would practically last forever, and never gall the shaft.

Locust may perform equally as well, with some occasional grease or oil. I've hear mesquite is an oily wood, very dense.

[DaveP (UK)]

I researched the stuff once because I used a chunk for carving.
I think you'll find it was only used for the gland bearing, the one next to the skin of the ship that had to keep the water out. A ring of wooden segments was assembled around the shaft and compressed until the seepage stopped. Once bedded in it didn't wear much - because of its dense oily nature.
As I understand it the other shaft bearings would have been metallic. They would probably have been easier on my chisels...

[Acer Saccharum]

Dave P, I think you are correct about gland bearing use. I have a book of ship construction drawings from 1912, and lignum vitae was indeed used on gland packings for prop shafts.


From wiki

For the same reason it was widely used in water-lubricated shaft bearings for ships and hydro-electric power plants, and in the stern-tube bearings of ship propellers [4] until the 1960s saw the introduction of sealed white metal bearings. According to the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association website, the shaft bearings on the WWII submarine USS Pampanito (SS-383) were made of this wood.[5] The aft main shaft strut bearings for USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, were composed of this wood. Also, the bearings in the original 1920s turbines of the Conowingo hydroelectric plant on the lower Susquehanna River were made from lignum vitae. The shaft bearings on the horizontal turbines at the Pointe du Bois generating station in Manitoba are made from lignum vitae.