First go with Black Locust - FINISHED with pics

[GlisGlis]

Very nice bow
I'm also +1 on the nice grip
 

[superdav95]

Yes very nicely done indeed.  The bend looks great and doesn’t appear to have taken much set.  Well done. 

[jameswoodmot]

Thanks again everyone, i appriciate the feedback

Bob, thats because i saw how successfull his bow was and coppied the shape!


With regards to the handle section, credit where credit is due, the shape is very much inspired (copied as close as i can) to Leonwood's bows. So i can comfortable say its a damn nice shape as its not of my invention!

[medicinewheel]

James, I'd say most of what we get to see here is not the person's invention but execution!

[Benedikt]

Nice one

If you happen to have some more black locust to play around with, my fastest ones out of this species have strong trapping (narrower back than belly, so the limb is trapezoid shape-ish) and strong heat treatment on the belly. I usually hang some weight on the end of the limb to give it some reflex while tempering and use a wet towel to make sure the back doesn't get to hot, takes some time to get the heat deep enough into the belly. Makes ridiculous fast bows in my experience.

Basically, it hardens your belly enough to the point where it can make the back do all the work, and Black locust is phenomenal on tension. I like to leave the last sap ring on (given its been dried properly, black locust sap is pretty much an indestructible backing), makes for a very nice play of colours

All of this has been done with German grown BL from an area with great soil and phenomenal water balance properties, so as always, take with a grain of salt

[bentstick54]

Very nicely done. That is one great looking bow. As others have said, I really like the handle.

[JW_Halverson]

Nice one

If you happen to have some more black locust to play around with, my fastest ones out of this species have strong trapping (narrower back than belly, so the limb is trapezoid shape-ish) and strong heat treatment on the belly. I usually hang some weight on the end of the limb to give it some reflex while tempering and use a wet towel to make sure the back doesn't get to hot, takes some time to get the heat deep enough into the belly. Makes ridiculous fast bows in my experience.

Basically, it hardens your belly enough to the point where it can make the back do all the work, and Black locust is phenomenal on tension. I like to leave the last sap ring on (given its been dried properly, black locust sap is pretty much an indestructible backing), makes for a very nice play of colours

All of this has been done with German grown BL from an area with great soil and phenomenal water balance properties, so as always, take with a grain of salt

I have had other bowyers tell me that with proper treatment (as you described) black locust exceeds osage in performance. I have avoided it like the plague because of the terrible (and well earned) reputation for being intolerant of less than perfect tillering. Trapping so that you have less back and more belly, plus a heat treatment is a great way to mitigate the compression problems.

[Benedikt]

Sorry for the little OT, but yes, that's my thinking behind it. You do the combo of trapping + heat treat to enable the belly to withstand the pressure of the back. That's why BL is so sensitive to a bad tiller, it's so strong on tension that the back easily crushes the belly. Its also very tolerant on tension/ can be stretched quite far, you just need some tricks to make it do that 

Can confirm from my experience that BL performs just as good as Osage if not slightly better in the 50-70# range with the described treatment/ design

Enough of the thread hijacking though Took me like 50 black locust bows to figure all that out, so given this here was the first go I see a bright future ahead