Baseball Wood Bats

Today was my last day of senior project so it involved a lot of wrapping things up and putting the finishing touches on my bats. The morning was full of putting on my last coat of paint, green and white. After that, I made a presentation for express fest about the work that I've been doing. I also got my last few signatures from Greg and others to ensure that I will graduate. I thoroughly enjoyed my time during the senior project and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I am excited to graduate and thankful that I was given the opportunity to do something I love for the last two and a half weeks. Today I worked from 8 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 3 pm, which will finish my time with 80 hours and 50 minutes. 

I have been working on hard on my senior project, which involves making baseball bats. I have been using different types of wood, such as ash and maple, and have found maple to be easier to work with. I have been experimenting with different designs and techniques for each bat, aiming to improve my skills with each one. I have also been working on other woodworking projects, including an Adirondack chair, which I planned and successfully put in the art show along with one of my finished bats. I have been keeping track of my working hours and have spent a significant amount of time in the woodshop working hard on my project. I have shared my personal satisfaction with their progress, having finished my fourth ash bat and starting to work on a maple bat that I will use over the summer. I have noted the differences in working with ash and maple and the challenges posed by the differences in each wood such as open pores and grain of ash. Despite this, I have remained optimistic about impro

Today was a very simple day I just straight-up painted. This morning I went to breakfast and ate a bagel with my friend Eric and then I walked over to the woodshop and began painting my bats. I have already put on a layer of green on my barrels so I was doing my second coat this morning. I also decided to leave one bat completely wood colored and just put varnish on it rather than paint it. In conjunction with that, I am also leaving two bats halfway green and halfway wood color. In the afternoon I went over to English House to finish up my skis, that I was making with Josh Norris, they are now finished and look great. After I finished my skis I went back to the woodshop and put a couple more coats of paint on the bats and then left for the day. Today I worked from 8 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 3 pm, this brings my total to 73 hours and 50 minutes. 

Today was Saturday so I only had a few hours to work today. I started by rubbing my bats with steel wool, which makes the wood smooth and can help remove imperfections. After I did that I moved on to painting the barrels green, I am making some green and white and two green barrels with wood-colored handles. The paint takes 2-4 hours to dry to the touch and 5-9 hours to use the bats. I didn't have a game or practice today so it was a weird feeling Saturday with nothing to do after classes end. I will continue to paint my bats as well as add finish to my chair while the paint is drying. I am very happy with how all the bats turned out, and I can't wait to see the finished product. Today I worked from 9 am to 12 am which makes my total 66 hours and 50 minutes. 

Today was a milestone day, I finished my last bat on the lathe so now I will move on to finishing them. I will begin to paint, sand, and wood burns these bats. I am making my bats green and white, the handle will be white and the barrel will be green. I also tried the wood-burning tool for the first time today and it is straightforward to make straight lines with it but it can be very difficult to make other shapes. It heats up the tip and is used like a pencil except the tip is extremely hot. Today I worked from 8 am to 12 pm and then after lunch, I worked from 1 pm to 3 pm. This makes my total time working 63 hours and 50 minutes. 

Today I finished my sixth bat and I couldn't be happier with the progress I've been making. I believe that I now have the skill and the knowledge to make good bats that work and look good, it's just a matter of staying focused. I started my last bat of senior project today which is a big milestone given that there are five more days of senior project. The only bad part of today was I got a few little injuries, Greg and I have come to the conclusion that getting hurt on the lathe means whoever was working was being really stupid. Today I gave myself a blood blister by hitting my finger pretty hard on the spinning block of wood before it became round and more bat-like. Don't worry though, I am ok because Kelly drained the blister and now I'm all better. Tomorrow I am going to finish up my last bat and begin finishing my bats with paint and maybe a special twist, but I won't spoil the surprise yet. I worked from 8 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 3 pm which makes my to

Today was Wednesday so I had less time to do the work that I had in mind. I started by talking to Greg about my plans for finishing my bats, hopefully by painting them half green and half white. The barrel would be green and the handle white, I am also hoping to burn the wood in a couple places with some personalization. I then started turning on the lathe, I got the diameters of two bats but messed up on one of them, so I will use that to show my process during the express fest at the end of the senior project. My bats are looking good so far and I am enjoying having a routine that is working for me, and that helps me get a lot done throughout the day. I think that the senior project has helped give me a good routine for my daily life that will help me for the summer when I am working most days. Today I worked from 9 am to 12 pm and then had my last baseball game of the season, this brings my total hours to 49 hours and 50 minutes. 

Today was a bit of a slower day for me, it was gloomy here in Andover and I felt it. I finished my fifth bat of senior project which was made out of maple, I am really happy with the progress I'm making, in terms of being efficient in bat making. The faster I finish the bats the more time I'll have at the end of senior project to take some artistic and creative liberties with my bats. I also finished my first coat of finish on my Adirondack chair, it is starting to get that nice golden brown wood color, it looks great so far. I will continue to put a finish on my chair so that I can bring it home in good shape and also so I can put it into the art show this weekend. I think that I will also put a bat or two into the art show as well so that people can see the work I've been putting in. Today I worked from 8 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 3 pm, which makes my total 45 hours and 50 minutes. 

Today was a good day I finished another bat today it was my fourth ash bat of the senior project and I really feel like I am starting to get the hang of things. I also started to turn my maple bat that I am making for myself, I want to use this bat in a game over the summer. Maple is much easier to turn it is a denser wood which makes it a smoother cut through the wood, I enjoy working with it much more than ash. It can sometimes be a fight with ash because of the open pores and the open grain, my tools sometimes can get stuck between grains or the pores. I still have four more bats and am hoping that I get better with each one and continue to improve and progress with my skills. With every bat, I have tried something different whether that means changing the barrel size or the shape of my handle or knob. Today I worked from 8 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 3 pm, which makes my total 38 hours and 50 minutes. 

This week was a lot of fun for me in the woodshop, I learned a lot and improved leaps and bounds in the woodshop. I started the week not knowing how to use the lathe and having no idea how to make a baseball bat. I am now very confident in my skills and knowledge of the lathe and baseball bats, I have learned how to change the diameters across the surface of the bat. I have learned that every part of the process impacts the final product that I end with. When starting the bat if you don't move slowly and with purpose, it can mess up what the bat will end up looking like. My days have been filled with turning wood bats on the lathe but I've been doing a few other things for a change of pace. On top of my bats, I have also been making a pair of downhill skis with Josh Norris, so I will take time out of my day to cut fiberglass or sand the edges of the skis. Doing this helps break up my days that sometimes can feel monotonous. The other project I've been working on is putting

Today was a shorter day but yet still a productive day in the wood shop. I started by working on a brand new bat where I took the squared bay shape and turned it into a circular shape. After I made it circular I then got all of my diameters up and down the bat. When I finished that I then worked on my Adirondack chair for the rest of the morning, I have been putting finish on my chair. I put finish on the bottom half of my chair and then I left for my baseball game at Brewster. Today was Saturday so I had much less time to work on my bats. However we won our game today and I hit a home run so my day was still successful. Today I worked from 9 am to 12 pm which took my overall total to 31 hours and 50 minutes.

 Today was another busy day full of working with wood and in addition to wood today I worked on a pair of skis. The first half of my day was spent working on my bats in which I finished two more bats, I am pleased with how the third bat turned out. I feel like I am really starting to get a hang of things on the lathe, I am certainly much more comfortable. After my lunch break, I moved to English House to work on my skis, which I have been building in Advanced Math Ski and Snowboard Design and Construction with Josh Norris. So my afternoon was filled with cutting fiberglass and then sanding down the sidewalls of my skis, one more sanding session and my skis will be done. Today I worked from 8 am to 12 pm in the wood shop and from 1 pm to 3 pm in English House. In total, I have worked 29 hours and 50 minutes. 

Today I finished my second bat of senior project and I certainly have learned a lot and made some pretty important changes. I have become more proficient and efficient when I’m not the lathe. I am faster in cutting down the wood I am also more confident in making changes to my cut or where I am working on the large. I have been trying to change where I start and stop the diameters of the bat as well as trying to elongate the barrel and making a thicker handle. I have also changed my process on making bats, instead of doing one bat at a time. I now do the same process of the bat twice or three times together then do the last step by itself. I am trying to streamline my process and make it more efficient so I can get all the bats I want done. Today I worked from 9-12:30 and 1-3 which combines to my total of 22 hours and 50 minutes. 

Today was day 3 and also a Wednesday so that means today was game day for the baseball team. It also means that classes start later at 8:40, I went over to the wood shop and started work. Today my next box of blanks came in so I opened that and started to turn the rectangles into more of a circular shape. I did that until 12 today then had lunch and went to my baseball game, we won 12-2 over Tilton. I was unable to work this afternoon because of the game but tonight I am planning my bats for tomorrow. I worked for four hours and twenty minutes out of my total 55 overall hours. I have 15 hours and 20 minutes out of 55 total.

Day Two Bat Number Two By: Cal Wilby Today was my second day of senior project and today was another fun and wood bat filled day. I finished my first baseball bat today which was a huge milestone for me it took all in all about 6 hours. My first bat was ash and it has some issues but it taught me what I want to do differently for the next one I make. I’ve already started my next bat and I already know the changes I’ll make according to the issues that I ran into the first time. Today I worked a combined time of 6 hours. I worked from 8 am to 12 pm then took my lunch break after I worked from 1 pm to 3 pm. I have now worked for 11 hours out of my total 55 hours. I’m excited to keep working on bat number 2. 

Day 1 of Turning on the Lathe By: Cal Wilby Today was my first day of senior project and I got to the woodshop at 9 am for my morning session. Greg and I started by making a plan for every step of the bat-making process, every bat I make will be 32 inches long, however, they start at 3x3x36 inches. I first used the chop saw and cut my first blank down to 34 1/2 inches and from there, I started turning on the lathe, took the square shape, and started making it circular. I then took different diameters on different parts of the bat, started taking down the wood, and started to taper the bat more and more. I worked from 9 am to 12 pm in the morning, then had lunch and resumed work at 1 pm, and ended at 3 pm. I also had a baseball game against Tilton this afternoon. Tapering the bat is much more complex and time-consuming than I had first thought and also a lot more sawdust flies off the lathe as well. There was so much sawdust from tapering the bat, that I had wood in my nose when I used