Lathe-hand turned bat questions..

[33bird]

I looked for previous posts but none came up. Just wondering if somebody could briefly explain the process and why it's done? I have a Pete Rose bat that had little holes and unique marks on each end of the bat and I was going to have them fixed, but I was told to not do that because it was a handturned bat on a lathe! Thanks for any information.
Greg

[33bird]

Anybody got info?

[allstarsplus]

I don't know exactly why it is done, but I got to see McGwire's bat maker from Rawlings actually make a hand lathed bat for Mark which gave me an incredible appreciation for all the work that went into each bat from selecting the wood to each measure and cut into the bat.

On a real McGwire Cardinals bat you can usually see at least one circular striation made from the metal woodworking tools on the barrel area just above the label which is accentuated from Mark's nice glaze of pine tar. I have also noticed this on some of my Shawn Green Rawlings bats too, but absent from other players so I don't have many answers.

Andrew


http://store.rawlings.com/graphics/info/shared/Rawlings_Big_Stick1.jpg

[allstarsplus]

I found this short video too. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-654601848557924925&q=hand+lathe+bat&hl=en

[33bird]

Good info Andrew. Thanks. Anybody know why bats are hand turned rather than the usuall process? Thanks in advance.
Greg