using baseball bats in projects

Incorporating baseball bats gives an opportunity for personalizing projects for children by having the bat monographed with the child’s name. I’ve done this in a couple of projects: full-sized bats in making a headboard for a grandsons bed, and short bats in a toy chest for a younger grandson. The toy chest is rather large because of the length of the bats (24 in.), so I included a bench inside the chest so grandson Elias can sit inside to do whatever grandsons do in spooky places. The bed is made with maple, baseball bats, and baseballs. The toy chest is made of cherry wood, baseball bats, and walnut & yellowheart splines (to strengthen the mitered corners.) For safety, I used slow close hinges to prevent the lid from slamming closed on little fingers; these type of hinges are made for toy chests and can be purchased from Woodcraft and other suppliers.

-- Don Snyder (38.6N, 90.3W)