Baseball Bats

rml91917 · Post by **rml91917** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 2:57 am

I just obtained a Mark VII and am interested in making baseball bats for my son. I am a total novice and would appreciate any advice.

carverken · Post by **carverken** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:39 am

Most bats are made of ash or hard maple. There was a prety good primer on bat making in a woodcraft magazine about a year ago. My daughter made one for her friend with my shoppy. The wood was ash but it was very dense. The bat turned out to be very heavy. Its a dificult mix between a fragile bat and one thats too heavy. good luck

K

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:46 am

I'm not sure of the exact length of a regulation baseball bat but a friend of mine wanted his handle turned down slightly. I remember I couldn't mount it between centers on my SS. I jerry rigged a tail stock center that worked good enough to allow be to turn the bat down using sand paper but I don't think I would have tried using a tool on the bat.
So before you start off check the regulation bat length and measure the distance between centers to see if you have the room.

Incidently my friend liked my adjust of his bat and I ended up down sizing a number of his bats using only sand paper. I was at the point of considering buying a lathe but he got injured and that thus ended his baseball career.

Since that time I have noticed many major league-er now us a concave bat at the hitting end and I think that may give you just enough extra room. That may be a consideration.

markap · Post by **markap** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:01 am

I think it is Penn State Industries that has baseball bat blanks and instructions for sale. The blanks can be pretty expensive depending on the grade you want.

rml91917 · Post by **rml91917** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:35 am

Thank you all for the helpful information. Can't wait to get started.

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:31 pm

Sorry to say but you can't turn a regulation length baseball bat on a SS. There is not enough room between the headstock and tailstock.

If you are making one for a child to play with, then I see no problem with doing that.

tom_k/mo · Post by **tom_k/mo** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:34 pm

woodburner wrote:Sorry to say but you can't turn a regulation length baseball bat on a SS. There is not enough room between the headstock and tailstock.

Ah true, but... I believe it was Nick that said if you have a ShopSmith and a Barn Wall you can turn something of any length...

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:35 pm

Tom,

You can do that. But I strongly suggest that you do not.
Aligning the Shopsmith's headtock spindle to a tailstock mounted to a wall isn't a very simple matter.

When tightening your workpiece between the spindle and the wall, the SS likes to move some, which will cause it to go out of alignment. You will need a way to lock your SS to the floor before you can have any true alignment between the spindle and tailstock, if the tailstock is mounted to a wall.

You will also need a free-standing tool rest rig because you can't make the tool rest extend past the end of the Shopsmith but an inch. No point in doing this wall mounting unless you can move your tool rest to where you need it.

Following this suggestion is doing nothing but asking for trouble. Have you ever seen a workpiece come off a running lathe? It's not a fun thing, and you can really get hurt. Trying to mount a workpiece between a lathe's spindle and a wall is just asking for this to happen.

It is a lot of trouble if all you want to do is turn only a couple of regulation baseball bats. If you plan on making several, you are better off getting a lathe that has the right length to begin with, or contact a local woodworking/woodturning club and see if a member has a lathe with the correct length you can use. In my club, members are always helping each other out with problems like this.

P.S. I for one have never been a big fan of Nick's teachings (I know I will get an earfull for saying this), but his suggestion of mounting the tailstock on the wall is just one of the reasons. It is not a safe, nor practical, solution to adding length to any lathe, the SS included. A suggestion like that is the same as telling someone to use bailing wire and duct tape to fix a car. Using the proper tool and parts is the correct way to go.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:55 pm

woodburner wrote:Tom,

...A suggestion like that is the same as telling someone to use bailing wire and duct tape to fix a car. Using the proper tool and parts is the correct way to go.

Now wait a moment I have seen Red Green of the Red Green PBS show fix many a car with just that bailing wire and duct tape. Why just last week he duct taped a car atop a van and used the van as giant fuel tank for the car. So don't even try to tell me bailing wire and duct tape won't fix a car.

Ed

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:57 pm

How long was it before the police pulled them over?:rolleyes:

I didn't say it won't fix a car, but I surely will not recommend it.