Mystery wood; member of the Pea family is all I know

[betterbuilt]

I have some Black locust slabs that I milled about four years ago. The Slabs are seven feet long and at least 23 inches wide. I dried them really slow and not one of them has a single crack. I was really surprised they didn't explode or warp. My experience with locust board form is that it depends on the log. I try sticker locust near the ground so it doesn't dry to quickly. I than load it up with any other wood I mill. I also use ratchet straps to keep everything together. I had almost perfect results with that trio.

The old timers used to say that locust would last two years longer than stone.

 

[DaltonPaull]

Black locust is an invasive species here in Oregon and grows quite a bit up in North Idaho too so I could imagine it growing further north. I read somewhere that it was planted along the railroads to be used as ties and spread from there. I'm not sure how true that is but I have seen it growing near the tracks.

I milled a locust a few years ago and I like the way it works/looks. I'd like to find another good log to mill.

 

[yukon7]

I was wondering if it could be Catalpa? When I lived in Southern BC we had one in the yard, they have pods like your describing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa

Jon

 

[Brmorgan]

No, I've seen those trees before in various yards around here though. They are nice trees too. This is definitely in the Pea family as it has the signature pinnate leaves of such plants. The more I look at the wood and various sources of information, I'm more inclined to say it's a cultivated Black Locust. Definitely not a Honey Locust since it doesn't have those long clustered thorns from hell, just short curved ones right on a few branches.

 

[vincem77]

I would agree with the black locust. I cut and split some this spring with the same green look to the heartwood.

Do you have any larger pieces, what I split had about 1" thick bark in some area's. I can split a piece tomorrow and get a fresh picture.

 

[Brmorgan]

Nope, the largest piece is in that first photo and is about 5"-6" at the butt. I'd love to have seen the root burl below the stump though.