Adam Cloe has been published in various scientific journals, including the "Journal of Biochemistry." He is currently a medical student at the University of Chicago. Cloe holds a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry from Boston University and a Ph.D. in pathology from the University of Chicago.
Cutting and seasoning the wood
Baseball bats begin as a piece of wood called a split, a piece of wood that is no more than 42 inches long weighing about 3 pounds. Bats can be made from oak, ash, and maple wood. A mill worker then shaves the rough edges off a split with an automatic lathe. At this point, the wood is called a billet and is stacked and sent to a bat-making factory, where the wood is seasoned. Seasoning removes the sap and gum from the wood via air-drying. The wood is seasoned in stacks for six months to two years.
Shaping
Once the billets are completely dried out, it is time to shape them into the form of a baseball bat. A mill worker shapes the dried billets on an automatic lathe, which forms the approximate shape of a baseball bat, with a roundish barrel and a narrow neck. At this point the bats are sanded down, inspected and then checked for balance and weight.
Turning the rough bat into a specific model
Manufacturers keep a model of each bat they produce. (These bats are often named after a famous player that used them and are frequently ordered by name.) The next step is performed by specially skilled workers called bat turners, who take a bat that is about the right length and weight for the model requested and begin to shape it further. The rough bat is put on a lathe and the model bat is put above it. The bat turner slowly trims and shapes the rough bat until it is an exact copy of the model bat. The bats are then stamped with the company's trademark, stained and shipped.
