Lost Art Press

Trying Out Honey Locust for a Chair Seat

Posted on by Lost Art Press

I’m always on the lookout for local materials I can use to build stick chairs. Elm is my favorite wood, but it can be difficult to find for purchase.

Last month Shea Alexander of Alexander Bros. gave me a couple boards of honey locust to try out for a chair seat. It looks a lot like elm, with green undertones and slightly shimmering grain.

After surfacing it, I took a chunk and rived it out to see how it split. Unfortunately, it splits easily and cleanly. So it’s still OK for a chair seat (if I’m careful), but not as ideal as elm.

In the video above, I rive out some honey locust, white oak and American elm to show the differences.

Thanks for the wood, Shea. It really is beautiful and interesting stuff.

— Christopher Schwarz

36 thoughts on “Trying Out Honey Locust for a Chair Seat”

  1. I live used to live in Denver, now in the foothills west of the city, and Honey Locust is one of the few shade trees that are approved by the City Forestry Dept. for planting in ‘hell strips’ so we have quite a bit of it around a city where local hardwoods are scarce. I’ve always been fond of it, and when I taught at a local community college (woodworking dept.) I encouraged students to consider using it. It was reasonably priced, as far as locally harvested wood goes (still $15+ bf) but way underutilized. Glad to someone else expressing good opinions about Honey Locust.

    1. I’m in Golden! Where would be a good place to look for some hoe y locust? I’ll give it a shot on a chair!

  2. Fun to watch video, but since an equivalent testing format is not used for the two woods, the conclusions are nonsensical. You described both woods as having interlocking grain issues, but you split a 2” piece for one demo and a 2 foot piece for the other demo!

  5. Locust is something used around here for fence posts. Seems to resist rot really well. Tidewater Va area.

  6. The arborist in me wants the Latin name as about four different species have the title of honey locust across the US. However, looking at the wood it’s the Gleditsia one. A related and very similar tree; Huisache (acacia smallii) is incredibly similar but would be insanely difficult to get wood from to make a chair. I have a goal of making chairs from esoteric and common trees that people assume are worthless.

  7. There is a local chairmaker where i live named Russ Filbeck. I saw some of his chairs that he made from i believe black locust at a Lie Nielsen event a few years back. They were absolutely beautiful. I am guessing its the same family of wood?

    1. This honey locust will most likely be /Gleditsia triacanthos/ (also see the comment by @flyandgrain); black locust is /Robinia pseudoacacia/. They aren’t completely unrelated but there are certainly much more closely related species that have vastly different properties. I cannot speak for honey locust but black locust is an royal PITA to work once dry.

      1. Black locust is very hard and very strong but it splits easily also though.

      2. After having spent a few years in different countries with different languages I’ve come to love the Latin names. They are the most practical way to deal with local species names and the ensuing confusion. They often also open your mind to appreciating and in your head correctly reclassifying plants in their correct groups. You might call it “oak”, but that is not necessarily “quercus” – the tree might have the same habit, but the wood might have quite different properties… (Australia, I’m looking at you!).

        But I learned something new, for example that I’m going to watch the tree surgeons in our part of town to catch them, we have lots of r. pseudoacacia. Might be a pita but sounds like it would make good legs.

  8. Locust is beautiful. I would never have described it as interlocking as your test proved out also. Great strength though great for legs and sticks! A couple of interlocking species I have have found are Hack berry (though the challenges there for seat wood are finding big enough boards and that it has so much water in it that drying it for a seat is tough. Splits rough though). And also sycamore. Difficult to split and also can be had in wide boards. Sycamore is one of the most beautiful woods I have ever seen.

  9. I’m actually interested to know more about your hacking knife, I’m looking for one.

    1. I’m pretty sure Chris inherited that one from Jennie Alexander. Blacksmith Jason Lonon has them on his website, though I think it’s not quite as beefy. He does good work.

    1. Jason Lonon hand forges many wonderful tools and has a hacking knife (he calls it a wood cleaver) very much like the Jennie hacking knife. Right out of the package it worked beautifully, I really like it. $50, out of stock at this moment but you can be put on a wait list for one. All of his tools are made in small batches, he does not warehouse a big inventory as a small forge operation. Search his site, he also makes 3 sizes of thin splitting wedges, I have the long version of that and it’s also a winner.
      https://www.jasonalonontoolmaker.com/shop/p/wood-cleaver

      I own 4 of Jason’s tools and I feel his quality and design is as good as any top name out there. I’ve never read complaints about his tools.

  12. I got a hold of quite a bit of Red Elm a few years ago and started with making Galbert #9 Perches for family, it’s been great and have been told it’s much like the Locust. I hope you find another ‘daily all time favorite of all time’. 👍🤣

  13. How about black gum? As someone who cuts a lot of firewood I can attest that not many native trees rival it for interlocked grain. I’ll mill and deliver you some up but I’ll be wet.

  14. I am a turner and have turned lots of honeylocust it turns beautiful without warping or cracking. Highly recommend

  15. It’s fantastic firewood, turns beautifully on the lathe, makes the absolute best fence posts, and the seed pods are supposed to be great for the sheep we raise. The odor isn’t bad when it’s dried but it’s definitely odd when first cut.

  17. “I took a chunk and rived it out to see how it split. Unfortunately, it splits easily and cleanly. ” Why is splitting easily and cleanly unfortunate?

  18. How far are you willing to travel for elm? Outfit named Lumber Logs in St. Louis salvages, saws and dries urban trees and offers an eclectic array of species. Elm is on their inventory list although whether it is in the sales shed depends a bit on the most recent storm. They supplied the honey locust for my bench top (a good wood for tops if not for seats) and I’ve also bought persimmon, box elder and osage orange for small projects.

  19. I have been wondering about my local wood. Its mostly soft wood, redwood and doug fir. Apart from it being easy to dent and ding, does anyone know if it would be suitable for chairs?

    1. I know someone who built a stick chair from doug fir and it seems to be OK. The highly variable early/latewood meant, apparently, some very difficult work in saddling the seat. I’ve tried to rive both before with limited success, but the advice re sawn wood that is in the book and elsewhere here probably helps.

      Buying high-quality 2×12 and sawing the good stuff off the edges would probably get you what you need for legs, with very straight grain and good growth ring orientation.

      I’ve made conical tenons on redwood before — it worked OK for a desk but that doesn’t take much load. In my experience it’s a bit fuzzy going, make sure the cutter is very sharp.

  20. Would any one else love Christopher to narrate a audible version of his stick chair book. Talks in such a clear and concise manner. Be pretty awesome to press play and listen when its not possible to have the time to read the book.

  21. I’ve made a stool from Siberian Elm. Nice color and grain. It was promoted as a substitute for American Elm in the 1950’s. Since it was was planted in urban areas, most lumber mills will not cut it. Local band mill sawyers might come across it. Worth looking into.

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