On Mar 11, 7:58 am, Charlie Self wrote:
On Mar 11, 12:59 am, Puckdropper wrote:



Fred the Red Shirt wrote :

That makes a lot of sense.

I'll add that beech has an interlocking grain that resists splitting,
which is important when tapping a wedge into a square cornered
mortise to hold a plane iron in place.

*snip*

How is it hardness wise? Would it be worth turning a baseball bat out of
it?

FWIW, I think most bats now are an ash or maple.

I didn't know about the maple, but it makes sense. Beech might work,
but the grain is variable...interlocked in one area, straight in
another. Too, it's another wood where quartersawing works best--and is
the most attractive.

Quartersawn beech shows off the ray flecks. They are not as
prominent as in oak more like sycamore but with an even
finer grain. Once in a while a dufus one Bay advertises a
plane made from 'bird's eye maple, with a photo that makes
it clear it is really quarter sawn beech. I do recall seeing
one plane, (a jointer?) that really was made from bird's eye
maple. At one time bird's eye was considered to be a
defect so probably some woodwright decided to use his
low-grade lumber to make his planes....

Ash and maple have high elasticity. I don't know
what beech does in that area (and can't find my research material
right now), but it's the kind of thing needed to make a good ball bat,
the ability to take a shock and rebound. So, if you can find your copy
of the FPL wood book, check beech for elasticity and shock resistance.
From what I'm told, it can be a bitch to turn, too, because of the
grain.

It's not as hard as either and substantially lighter than both
I think. My guess would be that it is not as stiff (lower Young's
modulus) as either and thus would make a 'soft' bat,
optimized for grounding out and infield flies, maybe OK
for bunting.

I was a bit surprised to learn about the maple bats, maple
splits rather easily.

A persimmon bat might be interesting.

--

FF