Baseball Bats

[Cincinnati]

I just purchased a Nova DVR XP lathe w/a bed extension. My first project is a few baseball bats. My turning experience is limited to a fifty or sixty pens and a few tool handles — mostly on a midi-lathe.

I mounted a 38" long, 3" rough diameter seasoned blank onto a 3" faceplate and attached it to my Nova. I have turned it down to about 2-7/8 and have it rounded over the length.

Is it standard protocol to designate the end closest to the headstock as the barrel (2-3/4" final diameter) and to designate the end at the live center (38 inches away) as the handle?

How do you finish them?

Is there a proper surface speed range for turning hardwood?

[Lawrence Brown]

Lot's of questions. That's good

I'll say that as far as which end is which, in this case it doesn't particularly matter because there isn't that much of a diameter difference. It'll come down mostly to preference. I tend to point the narrowest parts toward the tailstock, but you may even have to reverse it at some point depending on what kind of detail is going on the end. For example: you may not be able to get the tools in between the head and the end of the piece (not to mention it being more dangerous if you are using a chuck).

The above is just a generalization though. For specifics on baseball bats, try this tutorial. They seem to know what they're talking about and would have better info than I could give you. Once you finish reading that one, a search for "turning a baseball bat" will turn up oodles of hits.

Not trying to be lazy or anything. I'd just rather steer you to the experts than to confuse you with my limited bat knowledge. Good luck, and post a pic once you get something done.