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I think one of the oddest behaviors I have seen with a bat is our center fielder. When he comes up to bat he always gives the bat a good sniff. Good luck with the bat Frank, I know he will love it.
Dale
 
Frank Fusco said:
Larry, I haven't read your article yet but will do sometime today.
My son has said whether or not the bat can be used in a game, my grandson would treasure a bat made by me for him. That really started my day right. :):):)
So, I will be making him a bat even if it isn't used in game.
Now, you have me considering using maple. I have a lot of maple slabs 2 3/4" thick. Am making the rolling pin for the other grandson from it. Very hard stuff. But, I don't know what kind of maple it is. Is there a way to tell?
But.....even as I write this, I'm conflicted. I think I'll still order an ash blank.
Decisions, decisions. ;)
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Frank,
I have to say if it were me doing this I would not hesitate making this bat from my existing stock of maple. Given the bat size requirement I am guessing that your grandson is is more like 9 or 10, which means the force he can produce is even less than a 12 year old. So using your existing stock would be fine. Always keep in mind that the stuff you are reading about wooden bats are usually assuming they are in the hands of pro athletes not children. I'd bet that you or I couldn't break one made from any species of maple even if we were 27 years old again. Also, your grandson can then say, "My granddad made this bat for me from a tree he cut down himself"
I would find my very best piece of maple and set it aside. then make a prototype from a lesser piece, working on the weight requirement. (This may be your biggest challenge) Then duplicate that one.
 
bat almost finished

Here it is, almost finished. Couple small spots I need to skew down, finish sanding, finish then part off. Job was going very slowly until I changed technique. (meaning, got smart ;) ) I had been doing most of the turning with a 1" spindle gouge at 1100 rpm, per my digi read-out. Got lots of groves and tear-out from flexing. (I don't have a center steady yet, working on it) Upped the rpms to 2000, switched to a large bowl gouge and took off. Shavings flew and the shape emerged like magic. Shape and dimensions are per info Larry gave me, magazine article from Johnson, using commercial bats as a reference and another internet source. I burned a ring on the knob just for the 'h' of it and to make the bat readily distinguishable from others. My grandsons name and the year will be laser engraved on it later.
 

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Looks good Frank! You know I'm sure most people would look at that and think it’s a simple quick project. I have never turned one but I bet it’s not easy to get the shape, size, weight and everything else just right. Let alone have it turn out nice and smooth. You did good. :thumb: Not simple at all.
 
Shane Starnes said:
Looks good Frank! You know I'm sure most people would look at that and think it’s a simple quick project. I have never turned one but I bet it’s not easy to get the shape, size, weight and everything else just right. Let alone have it turn out nice and smooth. You did good. :thumb: Not simple at all.
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Thanks. I marked at points to get proper diameter and tapers. The wood is very hard which slowed progress some. Next one will go faster. Like all first time projects, there is a learning curve. With this one, I am not concerning myself with weight. That does simplify things. It will be interesting to see how close to, or far from, the weight is to recommended 17 oz.
 
Frank,

Bat and rolling pin look great. I know your grandson's will treasure their pieces forever. Wonderful to have custom pieces made by a family member in which to recall the love in the future.

Way to go.
 
Larry Browning said:
Frank,
I have 2 comments about this project.
1) The reason ML players like maple bats over ash is that maple is much harder and does not brake as easily as the ash. The rumor is that you can hit the ball farther with maple, but it has not been scientifically proven. Now a major leaguer swings and hits the ball with just a bit more force than a 12 year old. Also I know of no little leaguer that can throw a 90mph fast ball either. I guess what I am saying is that the problems with maple just don't exist at the youth level of baseball. So if you want to make a maple bat for him go ahead, it will be safe.
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Having been out of town for a while, I am joining this string late but I can't help but take exception to you statement of "Most ML players like Maple over Ash" Maybe American Leagers, but are they actually Major League? :dunno:

Louisville slugger, the one preferred by histories most prominant players is made of Ash with at lease 125 growth rings to the log (that is what the 125 means burned into the ML bats. Hickory will be too heavy as well as Percimmion or other fruit trees.

Maple bats are made from only clean straight grained wood and it too must be from well ages trees.

Sometime you need to visit the Louisville Slugger museum in Louisville KY and watch those artisians turn them almost blindfolded, perfect in every way.
 
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Bill Simpson said:
Larry Browning said:
Frank,
I have 2 comments about this project.
1) The reason ML players like maple bats over ash is that maple is much harder and does not brake as easily as the ash. The rumor is that you can hit the ball farther with maple, but it has not been scientifically proven. Now a major leaguer swings and hits the ball with just a bit more force than a 12 year old. Also I know of no little leaguer that can throw a 90mph fast ball either. I guess what I am saying is that the problems with maple just don't exist at the youth level of baseball. So if you want to make a maple bat for him go ahead, it will be safe.



QUOTE]


Having been out of town for a while, I am joining this string late but I can't help but take exception to you statement of "Most ML players like Maple over Ash" Maybe American Leagers, but are they actually Major League? :dunno:

Louisville slugger, the one preferred by histories most prominant players is made of Ash with at lease 125 growth rings to the log (that is what the 125 means burned into the ML bats. Hickory will be too heavy as well as Percimmion or other fruit trees.

Maple bats are made from only clean straight grained wood and it too must be from well ages trees.

Sometime you need to visit the Louisville Slugger museum in Louisville KY and watch those artisians turn them almost blindfolded, perfect in every way.
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I don't have a chart of relative weights of wood. I had considered persimmon because I know it was popular, for many years, as the wood for golf driver heads. Considered very tough and light. I'll be buying a billet of ash from a supplier that specializes in bat billets. (say "bat billets" 20 times very fast :p )
My son asked me to hollow out the end. I can't think of a way to do that after the fact. Methinks that is something that would have to be done right after roughing to round then chucking, using a center steady. Then later use the hollow for a jam chuck. Dunno, maybe sometime in future I'll try.
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bat finished

I finally finished my grandsons baseball bat.
The end result is a happy/sad product. I like what I did but the weight exceeds Little League allowances. It is 24 oz and max allowed is 17 oz. I used proportions per specs I downloaded and compared to commercial bats I was given. I did deviate by making the shaft 7/8" instead of the 1" the download said. I did this to save weight and make a better fit for small hands. The 2" knob looks disproportionately large to me but that is spec. I didn't mess with that because I know it is a counter-balance. Even though it is 24 oz, it feels very light to me. But, then, I'm not nine years old. Really, I don't know how a 17 oz junior bat could be made from wood. Even with the end cupped it would still be about 22 oz. The next one will be ash and that is heavier than maple.
It would have been done a couple days ago but the very high humidity in my shop recently kept the lacquer finish from drying. BTW two coats of lacquer with Johnson's Paste Wax over that.
Even overweight, I'm pleased. If he uses for practice, maybe a 17 oz bat will feel light in his hands.
 

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I agree with Jeff. You did good, and the bat will surely be cherished for a long, long time.

I suppose the officials would frown on drilling out the bat and filling it with cork? ;)
 
Frank,
That looks great! I was really worried about the weight from the start.
One other thing about getting it engraved. I turned a bat a couple of years ago as a gift for my son to display in his office. I didn't have to worry about size and weight restrictions. Anyway, I took it to a trophy shop that did laser engraving. I had designed a special logo that looked something like the Louisville Slugger logo and then I wanted his name and college jersey number out on the end of the barrel. The guy completely botched the job. He could only get the logo to be about an inch long and it just looked stupid. I gave it to my son anyway, but it just sits in his closet because it doesn't look good enough to display.
Who ever you get to do the engraving make sure they know what they are doing and have the proper equipment to engrave a cylinder (which is really hard to do)
 
Larry Browning said:
Frank,
That looks great! I was really worried about the weight from the start.
One other thing about getting it engraved. I turned a bat a couple of years ago as a gift for my son to display in his office. I didn't have to worry about size and weight restrictions. Anyway, I took it to a trophy shop that did laser engraving. I had designed a special logo that looked something like the Louisville Slugger logo and then I wanted his name and college jersey number out on the end of the barrel. The guy completely botched the job. He could only get the logo to be about an inch long and it just looked stupid. I gave it to my son anyway, but it just sits in his closet because it doesn't look good enough to display.
Who ever you get to do the engraving make sure they know what they are doing and have the proper equipment to engrave a cylinder (which is really hard to do)
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They have a top of the line machine and do my (round) duck calls. However, I am not sure something as long as this bat will fit inside. We will find out.
 
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