# Honeylocust wood



## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

Hi all. I'm new to the forum but seems like my kind of group. 
I have a friend who has 1500 bf of honey locust nicely milled. (Mostly 1"x5"x12' boards. He was going to make flooring with it) he now wants to get rid of it for real cheap (at least I think it's a good deal) $500 for the whole lot. I was hoping some more experienced folks could tell me if it's a good deal. Never worked with honeylocust before but seems like a pretty good wood. Has anyone out there worked with this wood before? I have a space under the stairs in my basement and I was thinking about T&Ging some of this wood and paneling this space with it. Then making some wine racks with the rest and turning this space into a wine cellar of sorts. What do you guys think?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

It would make GREAT flooring. I have told myself if I ever build another house I will use HL for flooring. I have seen it sell as ready to install flooring for $19 ft2.

Flooring aside it is a good woodworking wood period. If you want I can drag up some pictures of chairs/benches I have made with it.

Pretty fancy paneling, if you decide to do that with it, but it would work for that too.

And just FYI $500 for 1500 bft is a no-brainer. I get $3-$3.50 a bft for it here at my mill, rough sawn.

EDIT: I forgot to say welcome to the forum.


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

Thanks Darren. Thanks I'm gonna pull the trigger on the purchase. Yeah I realize it will be a little on the fancy side but at that price much cheaper than the white oak I have seen other wine cellars made of. I agree it would be a stunning floor. too bad a different wood floor is already installed down there.


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

By the way I'd love to see the pics. I'm pretty sure I will have a bunch left over perhaps you'll inspire a few other HL projects


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

These are wider boards than you will have to work with, but still a couple pictures of HL furniture.(and a little walnut) Simple stuff I made with a special dovetail jig.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Wow, that is some beautiful wood and some fantastic craftsmanship, is HL as hard as Black Locust?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

jiju1943 said:


> is HL as hard as Black Locust?


No, but still plenty hard. On the Janka hardness scale HL is 1580, other examples: cherry-950, red oak-1290, hard maple-1450...black locust is 1700.





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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

I have to chime in on this one as HL is one of my favorite species as well. I *do* have about 2000 ft² of it some of which was supposed to go into the kitchen but I just couldn't get it processed in time. I milled, stickered & stacked it several years ago and KD some of it this year so I need to dry the rest. It's going to be flooring in our next add-on. 

Is $500 a good deal? No, it's legal theft. :yes: Even if it hasn't been KD which it certainly needs to be for flooring, it's still a good deal. You could build your own DH kiln just for that single purpose and still come out ahead. 

Welcome to the forum please keep us updated. We love pictures. Hint hint. 






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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

Thanks for the comment TT. I will be getting the wood after Xmas. I will post some pics after that and surely when the wine cellar is done. HL is very abundant (in tree form) here. Most farmers here HATE it. Thinking about getting a portable SM and offering my services to help them "rid" themselves of this menace. Lol


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

PSDkevin said:


> Thinking about getting a portable SM and offering my services to help them "rid" themselves of this menace. Lol


That's what we are talkin' about 




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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

PSDkevin said:


> Thinking about getting a portable SM and offering my services to help them "rid" themselves of this menace. Lol



We Kevin's seem to think alike. 














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## tator234 (Nov 6, 2008)

*Honeylocust*

Is honeylocust the one with thorns about a footlong?:furious:


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## Rick C. (Dec 17, 2008)

Yeah the good thing is, they come out as easily as they go in


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

There is a thornless variety but the ones I always see are the vicious spike-of-death man slayers that you're talking about


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

tator234 said:


> Is honeylocust the one with thorns about a footlong?:furious:


Yep, Honeylocust thorns are longer than Black Locust. HL and BL are not related - different genus(?). Different spelling too you will notice 1 word vs 2 words. HL trees that do not have thorns were from seeds that fell from above the thorn line of the mother tree. Those trees will not ever grow thorns. 

It's rare to see thorns above about ~ 15' in the thorned variety in fact I have never personally seen them above that that I can recall. Even the thorned variety HL tend to shed their thorns as they start getting up in age, so if you happen upon a very old HL that doesn't have thorns don't assume it will produce the unarmed variety if you want to get some seeds for your yard. The best way to be assured of growing a thorn-less one is to take a clipping from a thorned one well above the thorn line. 


I don't know about BL and their thorns as we don't have hardly any BL here. I wish we did though. It's one of the few species we don't have that I wish we did. That and hard Maple. Well, that and waterfall Bubinga, and Amboyna, and . . . . . . . 










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## drcollins804 (Jan 11, 2008)

If anybody is in the neighborhood and needs HL I would gladly donate a few. I want to get some of them sawed but have more than I want.









I have an album with a few more pictures of them.
David


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

David,

Do you have any thorns on your trees about roughly 15'?





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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

TexasTimbers said:


> Yep, Honeylocust thorns are longer than Black Locust.


I didn't know black locust had thorns. Thought that was the way to tell them apart (without cutting into them). None of the 8 - 10 BL trees I had sawn up into lumber and firewood had any thorns at all. Any ideas why not?


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## jeffreythree (Jan 9, 2008)

Old ones can still have their thorns, and I noticed they sort of thin out and disappear higher up the tree. I heard that Texas honeylocust can have a pinker tone to the wood. One day I will find out when I get around to harvesting some that I have. One of my favorite trees on my place:


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## drcollins804 (Jan 11, 2008)

TT
I try not to get too close until I am cutting them (seems to be detrimental to the truck and tractor tires.) but I have seen some long ones in the clusters on older trees. I will try to check some of them Friday morning when I am off work. Do you need a full 15' or just close? 

First grandson is due in the next 2-4 weeks and they discovered an issue with his aorta that may have to be dealt with. If I'm not at Louisville at the hospital will check the length for you.

If I am I will check it in the next few days. I do know that there are a few of the trees that seem to have much more pronounced clusters of thorns than others. Younger trees seem to grow in groups of from 3-7 trees right together. Guess that is why nobody mowed them down when they were smaller. Haha I have a few that are probably 30-40 years old. Sthey still have plenty of thorns on them.
David


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

jeffreythree said:


> . . . I heard that Texas honeylocust can have a pinker tone to the wood.


I've milled HL that was quite pink. I have some of it still - this is what the larger diameter trees look like in my area. The pink is found mostly in the smaller ones. Once they get this size they aren't as pink. But it might not be the same in other areas. 





















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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Man that is some pretty wood, years back I tried to burn some green BL and the next morning 90% of the log was still unburned so I never tried to burn any more. That stuff is sure tough on a chain saw. How does BL compare to Iron Wood and Burdock in hardness?


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Jim, 

Janka rates Black Locust at 1700 and Bois d' Arc at 2040. The Janka scale ranks wood hardness by how much force it takes to push a .444" steel ball bearing halfway into the wood. For some perspective:


Balsa ....................................... 100
Black Walnut ............................. 1010
White Oak ................................. 1360
Hard Maple ................................ 1450
Black Locust .............................. 1700
Bois d' Arc (Osage Orange) ........... 2040
Mesquite ................................... 2345
Ebony ....................................... 3220
Lignum Vitae .............................. 4500






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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Jim I forgot to answer your question about Ironwood. Ironwood is a slang term used in different regions to describe that regions hardest species. You can find dozens and dozens of different species referred to as Ironwood. Persimmon (2300) and Mesquite (2345) are the two in my region that are also referred to as "Ironwood" by old timers. 








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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

TexasTimbers said:


> Jim I forgot to answer your question about Ironwood. Ironwood is a slang term used in different regions to describe that regions hardest species. You can find dozens and dozens of different species referred to as Ironwood. Persimmon (2300) and Mesquite (2345) are the two in my region that are also referred to as "Ironwood" by old timers.
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> 
> 
> ...


Thanks TT, I appreciate the information, I was surprised at Mesquite but then I have never seen or worked with it.


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## ANNPUR (Jun 13, 2018)

*Locust wood bench*

I was wondering if i could use a locust wood bench for my shower. Not to stand on but to hold plastic bottles of shampoo etc. Would the wood have to be sealed or waterproofed in some way. Thank you


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