Wood Bat Handle Prep

Try taping the handle

The proper way to prepare a wood bat is to sit down and Bone the bat.

A well kept secret about caring for wooden bats is, “Boning the Bat.” This sounds a little weird and not many people know about it. It originated from old players taking an old cow bone or animal bone that is smooth and rubbing it on the bat with a great amount of pressure. Wood is soft, even the hardest wood. By boning it the bat will not chip, look bad and it will remain shinny.
Another way to care for a wooden bat is to get a quicker swing. This will enable you to hit the inside pitch with the barrel of the bat and not the handle. If you hit the ball with the handle than you most likely have a broken bat in your hands.
Always hit with the label up or down. Never hit the ball on the label. Wooden bat manufacturers stamp their label on the bat on the top of the grain. The grain is what you can count to see how old a tree is. The grain is also the strongest part of a tree or wood. If you hit a ball on the label you will most likely have a broken bat in your hands. Broken bats add up.

The handle will be slick. Especially on the gloss finish bats. Tape works ok but I never liked to tape over the gloss because of the feel it game me. Take some fine grit sand paper and sand the gloss finish off. Then put the bat in your hands and see how it feels. It actually will feel great once you get in down to a rough finish. Then bone the bat even the handle. Ash bats have to be boned or they will split or flake off. Bone all your bats but especially your ash bats.

Once you sand that handle to a good feel then put your pine tar on. You will find that it really gives you a better feel of the bat. This is just my opinion. I never hit with metal they came around after I graduated. The old wood bats we used had very thick handles. We used to sand the handles down so we could get a better grip on them. Good luck and have some fun with that wood bat. It doesnt matter what the darn thing looks like. Its how you hit with it that matters.

Thank you, I will sand them. And, where do I buy a "bone"

A while back I was on the field before a Braves game and noticed Julio Franco rubbing his bat against the dugout railing HARD. I hadn't a clue what he was doing, until I heard about 'boning'. So, apparently, most any hard surface will suffice.

As far as what effect boning really has, maybe Mythbusters should check it out. Well, on second thought.... baseball doesn't seem to be their strong suit.

.

There's no doubt that sanding will work biggerpapi, but if you start with this...





...and after sanding you end up with something like this...



...then I'd venture to say that you've sanded a bit too much. At this point I wouldn't bother with pine tar or even Gorilla Grip™ . I'd reccommend this stuff instead...along with alot of imagination and patience!





.

you can get some good sized bones from a butcher shop. Coach May; aren't you surprised they don't make a thick-handled metal bat? There is nothing for bat control like a thick handle (Jackie Robinson or Nellie Fox models)

As always, gotwood offers the most useful advice.

Stop sanding BEFORE the bat turns into a pile of sawdust!!!

As for the Gorilla Glue, I learned from the American Pie movie that stuff is not good to use!

I didn't see the movie biggerpapi so I'm not sure what you are referring to...evidently the scene must have been a doozy to have stuck in your mind.

A bit of pie research did reveal the following...there is even special mention of Gorilla Glue™ in the recipe.


NEVER FAIL FLAKY PIE CRUST

3 c. flour
1 1/2 c. shortening (Crisco™ or equivalent)
1/2 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. cool water
1 egg
1 tbsp. vinegar

Combine flour, shortening and salt.
Mix well with pastry blender.
Mix together water, vinegar and egg.
Combine 2 mixtures and mix lightly with fork.
Roll out and put in pie pan.

Note: This can be rolled out several times and still comes out tender and flaky. Stores well in refrigerator for a couple weeks. Makes 2 double crusts.

Extra special warning: Despite what you may have seen in any of the various pie themed movies, do not, under any circumstance, use Gorilla Glue™ in this recipe. Resist the temptation to generate a few cheap laughs from your dinner guests. Crust me...the insurance claims alone are enough to discourage you from this attempt at after dinner entertainment.


.

quote:

Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
You can get some good sized bones from a butcher shop.

And in the event of your search for large bones you should strike out at the butcher's shop you might try contacting the former administrators and coaches of the East German Olympic team...they know where all of the big boned skeletons are!

quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
I didn't see the movie biggerpapi so I'm not sure what you are referring to...evidently the scene must have been a doozy to have stuck in your mind.

much like your earlier PM to me, a description of this movie would not be appropriate for this forum!

I can't imagine...pie seems so wholesome and tame...but I'll take your word for it!




.

Yes I am surprised they dont. That was the whole reasoning behind the thick handles - so you could handle the bat better. With the new metal bats its all about whipping that big metal barrell through the zone with the thin handles and the end loaded barrells.

The way it was told to me is the wood has pores in it and moisture is in the wood. By boneing the bat you are basically sealing the wood and the grain finish. You can bone it all you want to but if you hit it wrong its going to break anyway. The boneing will stop it from flaking off and chipping easily.

Mmmm, that pie looks so warm and inviting...I gotta go!

Do the new bamboo composites also need to be boned? We bought a new Mizuno for the season.

CoachMay, I haven't boned any bats lately but I'm sure it works. When I was young, I witnessed some latin players taking a shard of broken glass and just barely skimming the gloss off the bats. We asked them about it and they also didn't like the gloss, but said it also felt lighter after skimming. Glass shards may not be on some agenda's, but you can use the sand paper, remembering to leave some bat there, or just skimming the gloss with a pocket knife and then fine sand paper. We use to do the entire bat, not just the handle. Rawlings sells pro bats without any gloss finish, they call it natural finish.

Coachric,

yes, that's what I'm most interested in, is just getting the gloss off the handle.

You know the boys are used to aluminum with the leather grip and the wood bat handle takes some getting used to.

The biggest thing is to get them practicing with wood then game with metal.

The first thing my son does with a new aluminum bat is take off the grip. He then takes some sand paper makes the finish rough and tapes over it and adds pine tar. He says it makes for a much better feel on the bat. It does not hurt the warranty on the bat either.

I dont like the gloss finish at all on the handle or any part of the bat. The handle because it is slick and the barrell because I dont like glossy stuff. You can take sand paper and just sand the entire bat if you want. Or just buy the bats that have no finish. Definitely you want to sand the handle and take that slick feeling out of the bat.

Plus I like to see kids that a personal interest in their bats. Fix it up , doctor on it a little bit. Heck , even give it a name. Have a little fun with the game.