Has anyone used this wood for a timber frame? Any reason not to? Any feedback appreciated. Thank you.

Our experience with locust is that is is unstable as timber. It tends to be very "shakey" and will often split quite severely and delaminate during drying. In small diameters it's good for fence or deck posts, and it makes great pegs, although finding straight grained stock can be next to impossible. We have also used it with success for naturally shaped braces and struts in outdoor work like rails and gates.

I tend to stick with species I find in old timber frames and black locust isn't one of them.

Good luck with your project!

Rudy

Thank you for your input...According to the US Forestry service:

"General:...It has a high density and decay resistance. It shows slight shrinkage and stays in place well. "

I wonder if your experience is common, or maybe related to the particular wood you had at hand...The wood I have available is called ship's mast black locust, and grows straight and tall, unlike the usual blaak locust which is quite crooked....

In any case, I appreciate your input and will look more deeply into this.

Hi Cabowen,

What's your email address ?

Regards

Ken

Hi Cab,

We've been buying locust for 15 years to make octagonal pegs for sale, so the problem with shake isn't batch specific, although some are worse than others. I looked in several reference books and realized your locust is a different animal (plant actually) than mine. We appear to have Honey Locust. Interestingly they say the same thing about it as black.

I would recommend sawing some to size ASAP and setting it on sticks to dry so you can see what happens. Lot's of species that are listed as "stable" by the forestry authorities are, when they are sawed in board thickness. Drying timber creates a different stress dynamic than drying boards, and yields different results including checking. That's true of any wood species.

Good luck with your wood research. Sounds like nice stuff!

Rudy

Here is some info on Locust I got a long time ago from another site:
Black Locust has small thorns ¼” to ½”, Honey Locust has long thorns that grow in clusters. The thorns of a honey locust tree are from 2” to 6” long. Black Locust has a thicker bark then Honey Locust. Good luck, Jim

Yes, the variety I am looking at is shipsmast locust, which grows tall and straight, not twisted and gnarly like the typical black locust or honey locust.

I agree that it would be a good idea to mill some up and see what happens....I also wonder which would be best: to cut the trees now, mill it right away and let it the timbers season for a year or so before use, or would it be best to cut the trees now, and let the logs season for a year, then mill the logs to lumber maybe 6 months or so before using???

Folks,
Problem is arborists' names and foresters' names are not consistent with each other. Robinia is the black or yellow locust, has extremely fragrant flowers, (white) and seldom could make a mast at all (here in Missouri anyway) because of tendency to decay easily (while alive). I've NEVER seen a tree that oculd make a sawlog, much less a post.
Honeylocust (Gleditsia)is very durable, decay resistant and could make a decent post, if ever one could be found tall and straight. Maybe grown close together?
Both are legumes. Whatever else this "mast locust" is, it is probably a legume as well, but I doubt either of these two trees.
The earlier description of the thorns was accurate. The one with the brutal, long thorns is honeylocust.