Wrong wood?

[David Dickman]

Hi,
New to the forum, and new to turning. I bought an old shopsmith last year to turn a bat for my son's birthday. I've done a few heavy practice bats for my son and his teammates, but recently wanted to make one for him for an upcoming wood bat tournament. I purchased what was supposed to be padauk from a place called "exotic wood zone", and turned a bat, but while doing so noticed that it seemed really soft compared to the maple and hickory bats I've done previously. I believe it's supposed to be ~18% harder than maple, and just a little heavier. It was way easier to shape on the lathe, and the finished bat is much lighter than expected. I had a leftover chunk of the wood, so I took some measurements and weighed it...looks like it's ~37.5lbs/cubic ft. Padauk should be 47-50, according to what I've seen online. Is there any way to figure out what this actually is? Anyone know if this vendor is reputable?
Thanks.

 

[Russ Braun]

Looks like Padauk! Since every piece of wood is different, from different sections of trees, even different trees, I’m not sure how accurate the “numbers“ are for wood. That being said, I’ve often scratched my head about some woods being what they are. Padauk has a unique odor that gives it away almost every time.

 

[David Dickman]

Thanks for the reply. Glad to hear that it looks correct. I don't recall any unusual smell when I was working on it, but I guess I can sniff the leftover piece. Does it smell just in general, or when being worked on?

 

[Gerry Patton]

The vendor has a very large facility in STL and since I live there I've bought from them many times. Seem to me to be very above board with a great selection of material at reasonable prices, of course I don't have to pay shipping. I bought some red Mallee burl last week from a large selection.

 

[David Dickman]

Good to know, thanks. They have some unusual bat blanks, so I'd like to be able to order from there again...it's surprisingly difficult to find woods in 3x3 with a length long enough to make a bat. Made my first one with some leftover ipe. Dulled every chisel I have. I expected this wood to feel somewhere between maple and ipe (closer to maple), but it felt more like a soft wood.

 

[Richard Coers]

I don't have any idea what kind of league this will be used in, but at certain levels a homemade bat would not be allowed to be used. Shattered bats were a serious problem with chunks of bats flying into the stands and injuring spectators. When maple was started to be used because of the loss of ash, new restrictions were placed on the billets of maple. Restrictions on grain direction was the primary concern. Maple bats have to have an ink spot placed on them to prove there is no short angular grain. Without doing some research, I would have a pretty strong concern of the viability of padauk as a striking tool.

 

[David Dickman]

10u travel team. No restrictions on wood bats. also, other than the first bat I made with the ipe, every blank I've used has been sold specifically as a baseball bat blank.

 

[Tim Tucker]

The vendor has a very large facility in STL and since I live there I've bought from them many times. Seem to me to be very above board with a great selection of material at reasonable prices, of course I don't have to pay shipping. I bought some red Mallee burl last week from a large selection.

What vendor is this Gerry?

 

[sjbrandt]

Some leagues may indeed have some additional restrictions, but my son had no trouble using the Maple bats I made for him through Legion ball. They usually just have to meet the diameter specs. That’s been about 4-5 years since he last played. I too included an ink bleed so the grain could be observed. He cracked a few over the years but none of them ever shattered into multiple pieces.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

What vendor is this Gerry?

Exotic Wood Zone

Buy Exotic Woods | Best Lumber Dealers in USA

Exotic Wood Zone is your one stop destination for the highest quality luthier tone wood, American and exotic hardwood, turning blanks, lumbers, wood blanks, burls etc. Sustainably harvested, carefully treated and thoughtfully packed here at Exotic Wood Zone. Toll Free Number : ‎(800) 484-2340

exoticwoodzone.com

 

[Tim Tucker]

Thanks Mark! Will check them out.

 

[Dean Center]

According to the Wood Database, Sugar (Hard) Maple has a Janka hardness of 1450, most varieties of Hickory have a hardness over 1800, and African Padauk has a hardness of 1970. Andaman Padauk is 1630, but that seems like it would be much less common. (Reed, Big Leaf is only 850! The poplar of the maple family )

In your picture David, the colors rendering may be a little off related to the photography. The second photo looks more like Bubinga to my eye, while the third photo seems to be authentic Padauk.

 

[John Dillon]

@David - if you have a Rockler woodworking store near you (or check on-line) they sell Maple or Ash baseball bat billets for around $35/each. Not sure if that's a good deal for you? I've bought a couple of Maple wood and they seemed fine.

 

[Tim Tucker]

Woodcraft runs hard maple bat blanks on sale occasionally. At a very good price as I recall.....

 

[Richard Coers]

10u travel team. No restrictions on wood bats. also, other than the first bat I made with the ipe, every blank I've used has been sold specifically as a baseball bat blank.

I would be greatly surprised if they do a grain test to verify the integrity of the blank for use as a bat. Especially when using exotics.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I don't have any idea what kind of league this will be used in, but at certain levels a homemade bat would not be allowed to be used. Shattered bats were a serious problem with chunks of bats flying into the stands and injuring spectators. When maple was started to be used because of the loss of ash, new restrictions were placed on the billets of maple. Restrictions on grain direction was the primary concern. Maple bats have to have an ink spot placed on them to prove there is no short angular grain. Without doing some research, I would have a pretty strong concern of the viability of padauk as a striking tool.

Actually the change to maple has nothing to do with supply. Ash breaks into splinters and maple does noty shatter but breaks even. We went to a bat supplier in Missouri last year to pick up a pallet of cutoffs. It was an amazing story. Pros use about 120 bats a year . Ash has the stamp with grain in one direction and maple is 90 degrees from that , don't remember which is which grain.

Another story is when a pro picks bats he might have 3 stacks as he selects. One for game bat, one for practice bat and the third is rejects. Story is Ted Williams rejected a bat saying it was underweight. They weighted it and it was 0.1 ounce off.

By the way this plant recently merged with Ole Hickory.

 

[David Dickman]

Woodcraft runs hard maple bat blanks on sale occasionally. At a very good price as I recall.....

I've gotten a bunch of maple blanks from woodcraft. I get hickory here: http://www.homesteadhardwoods.com/red-oak-and-hickory-baseball-bats.html
In regards to ash and maple, what I've come across reading online is opposite of what's stated above. I'm 99.9% sure I had read that maple shatters, and ash generally doesn't... And that hickory is best, but that good hickory is hard to come by and expensive (but then again, the internet lies, so who knows...)

 

[David Dickman]

According to the Wood Database, Sugar (Hard) Maple has a Janka hardness of 1450, most varieties of Hickory have a hardness over 1800, and African Padauk has a hardness of 1970. Andaman Padauk is 1630, but that seems like it would be much less common. (Reed, Big Leaf is only 850! The poplar of the maple family )

In your picture David, the colors rendering may be a little off related to the photography. The second photo looks more like Bubinga to my eye, while the third photo seems to be authentic Padauk.

Whatever it is, the ball comes off it pretty well... But it's thicker and longer than my son's Louisville maple bat, but weighs exactly the same.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Since there are 7 species of Padauk and the natural change of the wood color, you can not go by the just the color of the wood to ID this wood, hardness probably would also differentiate between the species and where and how fast/slow it has grown, I have turned a few pieces and like the wood, though the pieces I kept have changed color dramatically, still does show red only much darker.

 

[hockenbery]

Clear finishes should contain an ultraviolet
inhibitor to reduce padauk's tendency to darken. Sanding dust may stain your
hands and clothes, and may even irritate your nose. And, padauk's bright dust can
discolor adjacent unfinished stock if it's of a lighter shade.


To me the color changes in padauk all have a nice look. Orange to red to black cherry red to almost black.
One of my favorite finial woods for ornaments. Paired with a holly ball it is great regardless of the color.

Padauckndust can turn everything red.

 

[Michael Waddell]

I use mainebillets.com - they have maple, ash, and birch 3" billets.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Since there are 7 species of Padauk and the natural change of the wood color, you can not go by the just the color of the wood to ID this wood, hardness probably would also differentiate between the species and where and how fast/slow it has grown, I have turned a few pieces and like the wood, though the pieces I kept have changed color dramatically, still does show red only much darker.

Thanks for the post. I picked up a piece a couple years ago and looks like Padauk but it develops a haze rather quickly after being worked. I had begun to wonder because never saw that on Padauk, so now I know with 7 species it is probably a different one.

 

[David Dickman]

Well, his team won the tournament, and he had 4 hits, 2 walks, a sacrifice bunt and a line out on 8 plate appearances...so whatever that wood is, it made a productive bat.