Woodturning - Battenberg Baseball Bat

Woodturning scrap wood into a $150 baseball bat, an ideal woodturning project for beginners. Introducing the Battenberg Basher.
This video is ideal for competent beginner woodworkers and woodturners and also giving you ideas for a custom baseball bat or softball bat.
Using beech wood and utile, I build my first baseball bat for Eastbourne's Boys Brigade 3rd division boys vs. parents baseball bash. Not exactly big league, but just as competitive!
#baseballbat #woodturningforbeginners #raywhitby
0:00 Cutting scrap wood
1:00 Gluing wooden strips
2:34 Battenberg layering
3:45 Woodturning a baseball bat
5:03 Baseball bat profile
6:13 How to finish a baseball bat
7:30 Baseball game
🔴 Please like, subscribe and comment
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
========================
Disclaimer:
We want you to enjoy your woodwork experience, but please be advised that viewers who use this video and rely on any information do so at their own risk. You must take on the responsibility for your own safety.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Question of the month: What's the best woodturned sports equipment?

[@UnlustigerTyp]

A football ⚽, but it would hurt every time you used it (a little joke😂🤣).

[@Tinatortoise]

A trampoline x

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

@@Tinatortoise lol, bit too big to fit on a lathe!

[@Uniquettt]

@@RayWhitbyCreations You could do it as a self ensemble IKEA flat pack

[@richards7909]

A beer barrel. We could drink the beer and someone else can use it for a sport :D

[@douglassiemens4245]

Nice video about a great piece of sports equipment. And, also, about Boys Brigade. I have very fond memories of being in the organization more than 50 years ago here in the United States.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Glad you enjoyed it Douglas. I came to faith at 18 and missed out. Didn't know what Boys Brigade was till I got married 12+ years later (wife went to Girl's Brigade). Fast forward to today and I'm glad my son has shown an interest in it! The company is full of wonderful and encouraging people.

[@hantieferreira4398]

Thanks Ray. Nice putting a face to your face and voice. Love the bat.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thanks so much for your feedback Hattie!

[@Cokhimientay2024]

Thích và đăng ký👍👍👍👍

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thank you! 👍👍👍👍

[@ThePapa1947]

Very cool looking bat Ray. Makes me want to make one. I still have the bat here that I helped my son turn probably 35 years or more ago. I just set it up and showed him how to hold the tools. A thing of beauty for the 8 year old that turned it. Maybe I will need to glue something up for one of his sons to turn. Fun stuff! Take care, Gary

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

I'm hoping one day that I can teach my son a little woodturning. Even though his desires are in very different subjects (as were mine), hopefully he'll see something intriguing in woodturning.

[@lilliekelly3406]

Hello. Cool bat. It was good to see you back. Thank you for sharing.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thanks Lillie! I'm finding myself slowing down so much these days. Lack of time and real lack of energy. Plus some projects are taking way too long. The guitar one was 2 months in the making. Thankfully the bat was only 3 days!

[@Cokhimientay2024]

Thích và đăng ký

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thank you!

[@nickkk420]

Great project. A good similar easy turn for people with a smaller lathe is a fish bonker

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Hi Nick. I never had heard of a fish bonker before! But they would be far easier to do, especially on short lathes. Thanks for the feedback! All the best. Ray

[@grammybear4226]

🐼 Big Panda Bear Hugs from a 69 yr old grandma in Texas, USA. 🐼 ❤ 🎀 👍 🧚‍♂ 🐈 🧚

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thanks Grammy Bear!

[@JiggsysShed]

That is a great piece. Bet everyone had a great time batting with it. Short staffed 🙄🙄😂

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thanks Jiggsy!

[@WoodenItBeNice]

Fantastic looking Baseball Bat Ray and it held together as well. Great video mate. Take care Ray. Cheers, Huw

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thanks so much Huw 👍 Hope you have been surviving the recent good weather! All the best. Ray

[@raydriver7300]

What a lovely video Ray and thank you for sharing. We saw your face briefly on the last video you posted. Stay safe 🌞

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thanks so much Ray. Hope you are keeping cool in this weather!

[@BrailsfordWoodworks]

Nice work Ray!

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@area50juan]

Hey, first of all, great creativity in your turning, love your pieces. However i see a lot of carbide tool use and a lot of tear-out, don't get me wrong here, i get tear-out too. please look up Brian Havens here on KZbin, Brian died six years ago in a car accident RIP, however he has done the best videos i found to understand every turning tool, never met the guy but i wish he was still with us because he had the potential to go very far in this community. Anyways, keep at it my friend, the only ones that make no mistakes are the ones that do nothing. Cheers.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

I use both standard and carbide tools and still get tear out no matter how much I sharpen the standard tools. Possibly need to invest in some new tools or better wood! Thanks for your feedback. All the best. Ray

[@AndysCornishCreations]

Hi Ray... Beautiful bat and a really interesting project done well... There was an awful lot of wood to turn away on that one... you must have had a bin bag full of shavings... Take care...All the best.....Andy

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

That was one downside. I guess it should be possible to glue up smaller sections around a "core" and reduce waste, but had to start somewhere. Bit like the 3 corner bowl project; now that I've done one 1 can use it to figure out how to try another without wasting so much resin. All the best. Ray

[@margaretzuelke9761]

The face reveal isn't that disappointing. I mean, you're married anyway, so any groupies you've probab already lost due to that. It's nice to be able to put a face to the voice. Thanks for sharing this nice little project!

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Hi Margaret. I had to laugh thinking there could be groupies! I do wonder if the face fits the voice... when I come across voiceovers to faceless channels it can be quite a surprise when their noggin is revealed!

[@PaulHuininken]

Good vid! Thank you

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Glad you liked it Paul!

[@DaveGDesigns]

That's a nice project Ray I love the idea of turning it a section at a time I made a walking stick a while back and that approach would have been ideal to help me get a more uniformed feel all the way down the length of the stick. Instead I just tried to turn it all in one go which worked out ok but not perfect I think using your method would've produced much better results. You need to turn a matching baseball next. Keep up the great work mate 👍

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Thanks so much for your feedback Dave! The only thing I did notice was a lot of judder in the mid sections when getting towards final thickness. I think it's caused by flexing on the stick and I should have used the steady rest, but managed to get away with it. Wondering did you do the crook as well on the lathe for the walking stick? All the best. Ray

[@DaveGDesigns]

@@RayWhitbyCreations I actually turned a piece of oak for the ball at the top and set one of the guys army cap badges into it cast in clear resin

[@brendaspeight2106]

Ray that is fantastic. And wonderful to see it in action. Your son must have been very proud of his dad. What does your charity do? By the way....lovely to hear the gulls again! Living in the centre of the UK I don't hear them so often.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

I do have a very supportive son! It did help that an old man like me could still hit the ball farther than the rest of those present. There's no getting away from the gulls in Eastbourne! But I'm happier living close to the sea than away from it. The charity is Hope Woodwork (www.hopewoodwork.co.uk) which trains vulnerable and marginalised adults that are out of work and equips them with woodworking skills but also helps restore or build confidence and self worth. I sell a lot of the work I do after hours (that I feature on my channel) on behalf of the charity to try and raise a few extra pennies for ongoing support of those in need of meaningful activities and training. All the best. Ray

[@oneturnatatime6309]

Beautiful bat indeed for a great cause. And what a concept. Simple process but I never thought of making a bat this way. I'm currently working on Goblet's stem with the same technique hopefully it will come out as good as yours. Stay safe.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

A goblet is a major step up from a simple bat! Major kudos to you. Will you be going for a captured ring too? This is something I have yet to do on my woodturning. All the best. Ray

[@SiTengoTiempo]

Fun project! Well done! Yeah, one question: is that your real voice? You could be a radio host. I speaketh as a former radio host myself.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Hi. Thanks for your feedback. Yes that is my real voice! I did once host a radio program on Ramair FM, which was a university radio station that had an FM licence for 1 month. But this was many years ago and still waiting for my voice to be picked up by Hollywood for movie intros... I can dream! All the best. Ray

[@Tinatortoise]

There was a strange man in your video, a bit unnerving!! Beautiful bat. Bit moan, a pet hate of mine ... Pounds not Dollars!!! xxx

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Hi Tina! It was a sacrifice to go with dollars. Currently the USA is my largest audience and every so often I need to make the effort for them! Take care. Ray

[@davidgrosvenor6685]

Great video, much too long between videos. Did I hear you say you working for a woodworking charity; that sounds very interesting, could you expand on that at all please, thank you

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Hi David. I agree it is too long between videos and that is due to time constraints with work and family and major issues with tiredness over the past 18+ months (akin to long covid like symptoms). Also some of the vids are very technical - apart from this one! The charity is all about vulnerable and marginalised adults that are out-of-work and teaching them woodworking skills in a small group environment, so hopefully builds or restores their confidence and self-worth and equips them for eventual work. It's called Hope Woodwork (for more info www.hopewoodwork.co.uk) . All the best. Ray

[@lvstream720]

Carlos and I left last. But i am in town aleady. Just eating

[@Pu1gcerda1]

Hi Ray, Another great video and you are younger than I thought, you must have an old voice.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Wow, thanks Phil! I feel a lot older, that's for sure!

[@chammers7377]

I would have been reluctant to actually let it be used, but if you had nothing but time in it anyway... you should burn a logo on it featuring its moniker

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Hi C Hammers. Initially they wanted a resin hybrid creation and I would have not let them use it for that purpose if I had done it. But I couldn;t get it done in time. For this, I just had to see if it would work with pure wood. Because it's scrap, I was a lot less reluctant for it to be bashed about. I'm hoping to get a laser engraver and will apply it's name as suggested!

[@Psychlist1972]

The bat came out nicely. Seems like a lot of youtube woodworkers and other makers are sticking imaginary dollar amounts on their creations in the video thumbnails and titles now. I suppose it's some KZbin optimization thing (like red circles and arrows in thumbnails, and "top 10" in the title), but always seems a bit gauche to me.

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Hi Pete. The $150 tag is a little imaginary as I said later in the vid. Though when I researched a price for this, wooden baseball bats are sold in this region - if they have some pedigree on major patron. Plus this is a custom creation that I haven't seen before (except a simple laminated system on KZbin after I uploaded this one). But I do freely acknowledge the only reason to mention the price is to try and attract a few more viewers. I appreciate your feedback. All the best. Ray

[@Uniquettt]

How about a table with base ball bat legs with turned base ball feet

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Hi Michael. That's an intriguing idea. Though should have a glass top I think, so that people can see the baseball bat legs...

[@Uniquettt]

@@RayWhitbyCreations Or acrylic safety first

[@annettehawkins8467]

Hate to break it to you but you showed your face in the guitar video at 21:20. Great work as always! Thanks for showing the bat in “action “! Awesome!

[@RayWhitbyCreations]

Oh no, a false face reveal! A little embarrassed, but hopefully only a few will notice my gaffe! I did put together a running KZbin channel that featured me talking whilst running, so was never a problem talking on camera. Getting me to shut up would be the real trick!! But scripting for shooting whilst wood turning felt a little too much hard work. All the best. Ray