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dennisk
6th August 2014, 01:42 PM
I played baseball for about 10 years, I could catch and throw and run like a damn , but not a very good hitter. On another challenge I decided to turn a bat that perhaps would describe my career. Made out of a 4" x 6" white oak piece I had lying around.

Pic 1 shows the mounting and the layout lines, as well as the blocks to support this adventure.
Pic 2 shows the barrel turned.
Pic 3 shows it remounted with the blocks now glued and screwed to the barrel end.
Pic 4 shows the handle end turned and ready to take off the lathe and cut and finish up the ends. I sanded with the lathe running as well as stopped along the grain to smooth out bend. A couple coats of DO and there it is hanging up. I like Mark Sfirri's stuff and so it fun to try and figure out how to do it.

Yes those are C clamps used as counterweights, worked like a damn. I also drilled shallow recess to accept the spur drive and live center. The Titan chucked through it like butter. thanks

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dai sensei
7th August 2014, 12:17 AM
:cool:

Willy Nelson
7th August 2014, 06:53 AM
Well I for one spent a bit of time trying to work out what you have done. Unfortunately, the background is a little cluttered and seeing detail a bit hard.

I reckon the end product is excellent, I love the concept and the thought provoking process.

Not sure if I got this right, but you attached G clamps to try and balance the bat?? :no:

Good thread

Willy
Jarrahland

dennisk
7th August 2014, 07:15 AM
Well I for one spent a bit of time trying to work out what you have done. Unfortunately, the background is a little cluttered and seeing detail a bit hard.

I reckon the end product is excellent, I love the concept and the thought provoking process.

Not sure if I got this right, but you attached G clamps to try and balance the bat?? :no:

Good thread

Willy
Jarrahland


Hi Willy, yes if you look on the right side of the blank at all times there are 4 C clamps that I used to balance this thing. Worked well, just dont get in the way! I was turning at about 250 to 300 rpm and there was no issues with vibration. Quite a while back I was asking you guys down under about the Titan 400 lathe,didnt get much for answers because I dont think there are many, or any down there. I know I have one of a few in Canada, its a beaut. If there is any interest I will post a few pics of it in the future. Thanks

Christos
8th August 2014, 08:38 PM
I think this is very interesting how you balanced the bat. Not sure I will be doing one of those myself?

Did you lock the C Clamps in anyway to prevent anything coming loose?

dennisk
10th August 2014, 12:02 AM
I think this is very interesting how you balanced the bat. Not sure I will be doing one of those myself?

Did you lock the C Clamps in anyway to prevent anything coming loose?


Hello Christos, I didnt lock the c clamps at all. The blocks they were clamped on to were glued with Titebond 2 and screwed, and clamps were nice and tight. All the levers on the clamps were in the same direction( down or up?) and so they could not loosen by themselves and the turning speed was not that fast. I checked them as I was turning and no problems. I thought I would give it a try, as you sometimes need counterweighting of some sort. I have used various pieces of steel pipe fittings screwed in place, but for this I needed a little more weight. Dont forget I also set the spur and live center into shallow reccesses as well. I never had any misgivings re this Rube Goldbergian setup, and would use it again. The weight of the lathe helps as well to keep things balanced. I will try to get some pics of the lathe if anyone is interested. Thx dk

Bluegum
13th August 2014, 09:55 PM
Love it. As a former 2nd bagger I was never the greatest hitter either awesome bat.

Christos
13th August 2014, 10:52 PM
... I will try to get some pics of the lathe if anyone is interested. Thx dk

My guess it is a Robust lathe.

dennisk
17th August 2014, 12:42 AM
My guess it is a Robust lathe.
Actually,it is a Magma Black Line TITAN 400.Rather than post some pics just google that and see the monster. A buddy and me made up an extension to the bed ,its roughly the same size as the one from the factory, and it works well. Thanks for the interest and comments on the bat. I really like the work of Mark Sfirri and so really enjoy trying to figure out how he does some of the crazy stuff he does. His baseball bats are really cool, and i am trying to figure out how do another one, I will post if it happens.