Baseball Bat Question

[massage123]

Hello all,
I have a client who plays hardball and wants me to alter a couple of bats for him and am not sure how to proceed.
The handle end is not a problem; that is a simple reduction of the very top end where it meets the knob to have that juncture be a distinct 90 degree transition. Unlike old fashioned bats that had a completely distinctive knob from the handle to give you good grip control (which is the change I will be making), they are now manufacturing them with a curved transition that is so shallow there is no real distinction between the handle and knob per se. For this handle end I simply plan on chucking the fat end in the headstock, bringing the tailstock with a live center up to hold the knob end, and then reducing the material along the length accordingly.

My problem relates to the fat end of the bat. The owner wants to hollow out a cup in the very end of the bat to reduce its weight, and I am unsure how to safely and securely hold the bat in the lathe to accomplish that?

The super small knob end would have to be somehow secured in the headstock, and the fat end supported by the tailstock somehow in a way that would still allow you the room to do the actual hollowing. The problem on the fat end is that you are only talking about a starting overall outside diameter of about 2.5", and a hollowing of about 1.75" wide by 1" deep in end grain. As a novice turner I cannot see how a live center point can be used in such a confined situation and not be in the way.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance,
Brian A

 

[Dennis Taylor]

Hope This Will Help

I turned a lot of baseball bats for my nephews little league team, I was the coach, end of season thing, anyway....you can mount the bat between centers, and just like a bowl, hollow out the fat end thru the endgrain, leaving a small but long dimple in the center, and then you can either hold the bat and cut thru or take it off the lathe and cut and sand it off with a dremel tool, either way works, just depends if you are comforable holding and cutting the spinning bat....but I have done it and it will work, didn't have any problems.....hope this helps...Dennis

 

[john lucas]

Dennis has a good sound method. Another possibility is to use a 3 wheel steady rest. Mount the handle in your chuck and bring the tailstock up to center the other end. Mount the steady rest and bring up the wheels near the end. Then you can remove the tailstock and turn the end.

 

[Joe Greiner]

John's suggestion sounds safer and more reliable. But is it kosher to modify a bat for league play? Maybe this modification is too slight to trigger a violation. There was some noise a while back about pro players using bats with cork inserts; wasn't pleasant as I recall.

Joe

 

[Ron Sardo]

It might be a good idea to check with your little league coach.
In my area they do not allow wooden bats.

 

[massage123]

Thanks guys,
The bat is actually for a client who although in his later sixties is still successfully pitching in a hard ball league for 55 and older men, and actually part of the national championship team a couple years back.

The modification is legal as it is simply to reduce weight at the very end, not to drill down thru center and reload with cork or other material to cheat.

I am assuming I will need to use #1 jaws to get the chuck down to the small knob handle diameter to turn the fat end at the tailstock end of things.

I really love the idea of a steady rest as the means to support the fat end to get the tailstock completely out of the way for safety sake and ease of turning. The only bummer is that I do not have a steady rest at this point. Any ideas for a sound steady rest at a reasonable price to work on a Powermatic 3520B?

Again thank you guys much for your help, kind regards,
Brian A

 

[Joe Greiner]

There are heaps of DIY steady rests on the weird wild web. Here's one by the late Jean Michel. (Near bottom of page)

http://www.atbq.qc.ca/jm2/woodturnjigs.htm

Google [woodturning steady diy] for more.

Joe