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Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge

Craftsman 12" Bandsaw – Fully Rebuilt + Turning Blanks

Riving baseball bats.....

Posts

Riving baseball bats.....

#1

Riving baseball bats.....

Barry Irby

I heard a radio discussion about a guy that figured out that splitting maple along the grain to create blanks for baseball bats was better than sawing them. By splitting the blanks he was avoiding runout of the grain and weakness in the bats. From the brief part of the show I heard, he and his company have made a name for themselves and are doing well. Now considering applying the process to Cricket bats.

He did not use the word "Riving" to describe the process. I think Roy Underhill would say "Duh!"

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

#2

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

john lucas

Without a doubt. When I took a Windsor chair class with Curtiss Buchannan we were supposed to make the tops of our chair spindles 3/8". I screwed up and made mine 5/16". They look really thin and spindly. He said he wasn't sure how long they would last at that size. That was 18 years ago. That chair is used every day at our kitchen table.

I had to make some 36" long spindles to replace brass rods in an Antique piece for a friend. It was for a hand and coat rack off of a train. I rived the wood before turning it. They really are flexible but have not broken.

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

#3

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

Reed Gray

The only problem with riving blanks is that you have to be VERY selective with your wood. Finding perfectly straight grained wood is not easy.

robo hippy

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

#4

Amen Reed!

JamieDonaldson

:D

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

#5

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

Mike Brazeau

A few years ago I recorded a program on PBS on the Louisville Bat Co. harvesting ash wood for bats in northern PA near the NY border. They cut log sections to length and used to rive the blanks but were now using a tubular hydraulic driven saw that cut essentially what look like huge dowels. They are cross stacked on pallets and bound with straps and air dried for a period of time, then sorted for usefullness and put in a kiln.

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

#6

There was a lot discussion....

Barry Irby

about sourcing the wood. They were buying it from all over. Did not say how they could tell if it would split successfully. They did discuss inspecting broken bats to tell where they broke.

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

#8

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

Don Stephan

Depending on the length and diameter of the needed blanks and the wood desired, riving green wood can be a lot faster than sawing. And stronger by following the grain.

Re: Riving baseball bats.....

#9

tool handles

John K Jordan

When I get a fairly small diameter and very straight hickory I use a froe to split into handle blanks then put them in the barn loft to dry for a few years. I keep a good supply of axe, shovel, sledge, etc blanks on hand this way.


And yes, a new handle for the froe too.


JKJ

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