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Wooden Bats. By Brad Gall. Maple Trees. The scientific name for the tree in which maple bats are from is the Acer saccharum . Maple trees have to be the right thickness to get the optimum number of bats per tree.
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Wooden Bats By Brad Gall
Maple Trees • The scientific name for the tree in which maple bats are from is the Acer saccharum. • Maple trees have to be the right thickness to get the optimum number of bats per tree. • These trees have t be hand selected by experts so that the bats all turn out the same.
Maple Process Once you have selected the trees, most companies use a horse so that they can drag the trees out of the forest. Once out of the forest the trees can be loaded onto a truck that carries about 50+ trees at a time to a refinery.
Types of Maple Trees Used • Some Companies like BWP use a Sugar Maple to make their bats • Others like to use Canadian Maple • Sugar Maple is the tree of preference for wooden bats made in the USA
Refinery • Once at the refinery, they cut the trees into logs. • The 40 inch logs are then sent through a cutter that trims them down into a round billet. • The bats are then dried out so that they can be cut.
Finishing • Once the bats are fully dried, then they are trimmed down to 2.75 inch rounds or wood. • The billets are then trimmed into 37 inch long pieces. • Once it arrives at the refinery for the final process of making a bat, it goes through a lathe that then trims the wood billet to a perfect bat.
Hickory Bats In the hickory trees they have to be hand selected to also get the best number of bats per tree. The scientific for the hickory tree used most for wooden baseball bats is Carya tomentosa.
Process • There are specific farms for hickory trees that raise them specifically for use of cutting them down. • Once they cut them down they are loaded onto a truck that transports them to factory for storage.
Process • The hickory trees once they are cut into logs just like the maple trees are. • Once they are cut they are also cut into billets and then dried out for a period of time. • It could range from 30 days to 35 days depending on the moisture inside the bark.
Cutting Process • Once they are done drying they are cut into billets ranging from 40 inches to 37 inches. • They are then sent to the main processing plant after they have been cut into billets.
Finished Product • Once at the main processing plant, they are sent through the lathe which then cuts the billets into bats that then processed into bats. • Once completed they have to cut and sand the knob out of the bat at the top where your hands go, then you have a complete hickory bat.
Composite Bats There is really no wood that goes into a Composite bat. I know this is shocking to hear because we consider it a wooden bat.
Core of a Composite Bat The Core of the Bat is a plastic foam core that absorbs shock to help the batter and protect the batter’s hands from stinging after hitting a ball.
Wood in The Bat • Synthetic wood is used along with Kevlar, glass, and carbon are imbedding to a plastic resin. • There is no wood in the composite bats!!
Finished Product • Then, woven fibers are wrapped around the core and they are synthetic. • This is not wood, but when hitting a baseball this reacts like a wooden bat. • Once finished it putts a synthetic cover over the fibers to protect it, and also just make sure that the bat will last. • These are the most expensive “wooden” bats.
Sources "How to Make Maple and Ash Wood Bats.“ Carolina Clubs. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov 2011. McNulty, Mary. "How a Baseball Bat is Made.“ How Products Are Made. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov 2011. "Composite Wooden Baseball Bats." All About-Wood-Bats. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov 2011.
