I burned Almost all Black Locust last winter, I posted a similar thread last year. I found that keeping a bunch of very small splits handy was key to successful BL burning. I think a big part of the difficulty with getting it going is how smooth the splits are. Unlike the Red Oak I am burning now, BL splits are smooth and hard. The Oak splits have little splits and fibers sticking out of them that catch fire and then ignite the splits. BL splits usually have none of that. I hot bed of coals and a bunch of smaller splits will get the big stuff going...and once it does it will burn hot and long.