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Wood blanks for baseball bats

John Torchick

John Torchick

Joined
Jan 24, 2010
Messages
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Location
Cleveland, Tennessee
I have two grandsons, 4 and 6, that are really into baseball. Who is a supplier of blanks to make small baseball bats? Anyone have a basic pattern that I can use or just use another bat? I live in SE Tennessee if it is close and shipping would be minimal.
 
At our clubs meeting last Saturday, Big Monk Lumber had a display set up and had baseball bat blanks for sale for what I thought was a reasonable price.

Not sure if links are allowed on here, but you can google big monk lumber and get the website. Not sure about the shipping on them.

Later,
Dale M
 
Steve Wall Lumber (www.walllumber.com) sells 3" x 3" x 38" ash blanks for $14.00 (plus shipping).

I have no affiliation with them except as a satisfied customer. I have ordered wood (esp. flat stock) for years.
 
Gone Batty Lumber

I personally order from Walt at Gone Batty. This will likely be my 3rd year ordering materials from him. The first year I ordered 4 - 3"x38" Maple Bat Blanks - 1 for each coach on my son's team. The second year I ordered 20 18" trophy bats, unfinished, that I painted and had laser engraved. I'll likely do the same this year.

His service has been great with me, and he advised me on how best to paint and finish the trophy bats.

One word of advice - if you're going to make large bats make sure you have a center steady to keep them from vibrating unnecessarily.
 
John,
Ash is the predominant street tree in my town and the trees are a type that has reached the tree version of social security. I have an acquaintance that is also looking for some for a baseball bat wood, so I've got my eyes peeled. It will require a tree getting cut down, but with the age of the trees, at least a few are brought down each year. Would it be cost effective for me to send you some? If so, would you prefer a log or quarters? What length? Ash doesn't seem to split and quarters would probably be dry here in a year. Let me know. Made anything interesting out of the pecan, yet?

Dean
 
Bat blanks

I live in SE Tennessee so I don't know what shipping would be from your area. I'm a newbie in turning so I don't know what to ask for in sawn wood. The boys are 4 and 6 so the blanks wouldn't have to be long. The bats they use now are 29 in. long- aluminum and wood. Thanks for the reply.
 
If you want to do a little scrounging around you may be able to find blocking material at companies that get shipments on pallets. I have 6 or 7 pieces that are 3"x3" or 4"x4" of various lengths that are great for such projects. Most places are glad to have you haul them away.

I was at Keim Lumber in Charm, OH this weekend. They had ash and maple dowels about 3" diameter for bat blanks. The maple were $32 and the ash were in the high 20's. Shipping would probably be pretty high due to the weight.

TomC
 
John You need dry wood for bats. Wet wood will check. I didn't get to show you my very large bat while you were up. It's 6" in diameter. It was hard finding dry wood for that.
You might check with Jeffries lumber 10 miles south of Knoxville. It's a great place to visit but give your credit card to your wife before you go. They often have table leg blanks. They are a little thick for what you need and they may or may not have the species you want but they certainly have a lot of wood. They don't have a huge amount of turning wood but have a whole warehouse full of dry wood for flat woodworkers. Definitely worth a visit.
They don't have a website but you can usually find there address by a google search.
 
Isn't it interesting how you can be looking for something else, and in the process, happen upon something another turner is seeking? . . .

Also interesting how a turner can take a desire to produce a common but useful item for someone, and within a few years turn this simple object into a major product whose list of noteworthy users continues to grow. :cool2:
 
Bats

Rick, thanks for the post. My oldest grandson is working out with some MLB teams in anticipation of the MLB draft. I'm sure he and my son-in-law are aware of the Marucci bat. If not, that would be a great present for a rookie.
I read somewhere that minor league baseball was banning maple bats as they were experiencing a high rate of breakage.
 
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