While he was helping me find the parts for the Wire Ferrel and Steel
(or brass) Wire Wall Thickness Gauge in the Jan 2008 issue of Fred
Holder's magazine (also available on Wood Central's turning forum,
put there by the author/inventor), the Ace Hardware guy who was
helping me find things turned out to be a woodworker and turner.

In high school, he turned his own baseball bats - four part laminated
bats that had quarter sawn rain all the way round - and "boned" them
on the lathe to compress the surface wood. Harder bats make balls
go farther, all other things being equal.

Now here's where the serendipity comes in. He worked at a swimming
pool and used muriatic acid to clean filters. Somehow a piece of wood
got into the bucket of muriatic acid. For some unexplainable reason,
when he took it out he kept it.

A few days later he found it, discolored to a light gray. Just for fun
he decided to drill some holes in it. For some reason the wood was
unusually difficult to drill. He sanded off all the gray and tried
staining
the piece, expecting the end grain to absorb more stain, and become
darker. It didn't. So in addition to apparently making the wood
harder,
the muriatic soaking seemed to have sealed the end grain as well.

Any alchemists out there have any experience with this muriatic
"treatment" or a possible explanation of why it would make wood
harder - and seal end grain?

charlie b

"charlieb" wrote in message
...
In high school, he turned his own baseball bats - four part laminated
bats that had quarter sawn rain all the way round - and "boned" them
on the lathe to compress the surface wood. Harder bats make balls
go farther, all other things being equal.


Well, in a cylinder, that's impossible, of course. Has to have two faces,
two quarters.

Now here's where the serendipity comes in. He worked at a swimming
pool and used muriatic acid to clean filters. Somehow a piece of wood
got into the bucket of muriatic acid. For some unexplainable reason,
when he took it out he kept it.

A few days later he found it, discolored to a light gray. Just for fun
he decided to drill some holes in it. For some reason the wood was
unusually difficult to drill. He sanded off all the gray and tried
staining
the piece, expecting the end grain to absorb more stain, and become
darker. It didn't. So in addition to apparently making the wood
harder,
the muriatic soaking seemed to have sealed the end grain as well.


Well, chlorine is a strong oxidizer - bleach - and if he boned, which is to
say burnished and case-hardened the wood, it'd be tough for it to absorb an
oil stain.

Any alchemists out there have any experience with this muriatic
"treatment" or a possible explanation of why it would make wood
harder - and seal end grain?


Don't think any of what you suggest happened, but open for suggestions.

"charlieb" wrote
In high school, he turned his own baseball bats - four part laminated
bats that had quarter sawn rain all the way round

"George" wrote:

Well, in a cylinder, that's impossible, of course. Has to have two faces,
two quarters.

Impossible, kemosabe? "Of course"?? Engage your brain, though I
personally would not make a bat this way - but I've only made one,
anyway.

4 parts, 2 quarters, 2 other quarters, never more than 45 degrees off
quarter (at the glue-lines). If the Stickley folks can do it with oak
table legs (and they did/do), a turner can do it with a bat if he wants
to. Just six more "impossible" things and you can have breakfast...

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
"charlieb" wrote
In high school, he turned his own baseball bats - four part laminated
bats that had quarter sawn rain all the way round

"George" wrote:

Well, in a cylinder, that's impossible, of course. Has to have two
faces,
two quarters.

Impossible, kemosabe? "Of course"?? Engage your brain, though I
personally would not make a bat this way - but I've only made one,
anyway.

4 parts, 2 quarters, 2 other quarters, never more than 45 degrees off
quarter (at the glue-lines). If the Stickley folks can do it with oak
table legs (and they did/do), a turner can do it with a bat if he wants
to. Just six more "impossible" things and you can have breakfast...


On a square leg you only see the quarter, but once you circle, you can't
avoid rift and face. Draw it out.

George wrote:

In high school, he turned his own baseball bats - four part laminated
bats that had quarter sawn rain all the way round - and "boned" them
on the lathe to compress the surface wood. Harder bats make balls
go farther, all other things being equal.


Well, in a cylinder, that's impossible, of course. Has to have two faces,
two quarters.


Ah - the wonders of terms and definitions - and their context.

For a sawyer, "plain sawn" (aka "through & through"), "riftsawn"
and "quarter sawn" describe a procedure for sawing up a log.

To a lumber grader it's how the grain intersects the "show face"
that's the criteria.

To the furniture maker looking for "flecks" in oak, sycamore and
other woods with prominent medullary rays it's the visible flecks
on the show face of the board.

To a structural engineer it's the structural strength of the
material
and how the grain orientation affects strength that's important.

And to an instrument maker looking for tone, it's yet another set
of critria for the definition.

Technically, quarter sawn is when the growth rings intersect
the show face anywhere between 75 and 90 degrees acrossed
the entire show face.

If you're a furniture maker who wants table or chair legs to
have "straight grain" (as opposed to "arch/flame/cathedral"
grain) on at least two show faces, preferably on all four show
faces - perhaps to have a "fleck pattern" on the show faces
- a piece of square wood with grain intersecting each face at
45 degrees is what you look for when asking for "quarter
sawn" boards.

Then there's the "radial", "tangential" and "end" grain thing.

Anyway, the idea for the laminated bat was to get as much
"quarter sawn" grain around the potential contact area or
the bat as possible. Four squares of 45 degrees to each
face would be the optimal grain orientation.

Contact Face A
+----+-----+ +----+-----+
Contact |\\\\|////| | | | | | | | | | |
Face +----+-----+ | | | | | | | | | |
B |////|\\\\| | | | | | | | | | |
+----+-----+ +----+-----+

Was an interesting side track though.

And when it comes to athletes and their equiptment,
if voodoo works they'll use it (along with human growth
hormones, steroids and other "performance enhancing
drugs"). Then there's the Placebo Effect - if you think
it will help - it just might.

charlie b

"charlieb" wrote: (clip) Then there's the Placebo Effect - if you think
it will help - it just might.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
So, if the batter THINKS his bat is corked, he can hit harder? Sounds like
a strategy for a clever coach. And if you give the batter flax seed oil,
and tell him to pretend he thought it was flax seed oil, his performance
will improve? G

charlieb wrote in
:

George wrote:

In high school, he turned his own baseball bats - four part
laminated bats that had quarter sawn rain all the way round - and
"boned" them on the lathe to compress the surface wood. Harder
bats make balls go farther, all other things being equal.


Well, in a cylinder, that's impossible, of course. Has to have two
faces, two quarters.


Ah - the wonders of terms and definitions - and their context.

For a sawyer, "plain sawn" (aka "through & through"), "riftsawn"
and "quarter sawn" describe a procedure for sawing up a log.

To a lumber grader it's how the grain intersects the "show face"
that's the criteria.

To the furniture maker looking for "flecks" in oak, sycamore and
other woods with prominent medullary rays it's the visible flecks
on the show face of the board.

To a structural engineer it's the structural strength of the
material
and how the grain orientation affects strength that's important.

And to an instrument maker looking for tone, it's yet another set
of critria for the definition.

Technically, quarter sawn is when the growth rings intersect
the show face anywhere between 75 and 90 degrees acrossed
the entire show face.

If you're a furniture maker who wants table or chair legs to
have "straight grain" (as opposed to "arch/flame/cathedral"
grain) on at least two show faces, preferably on all four show
faces - perhaps to have a "fleck pattern" on the show faces
- a piece of square wood with grain intersecting each face at
45 degrees is what you look for when asking for "quarter
sawn" boards.

Then there's the "radial", "tangential" and "end" grain thing.

Anyway, the idea for the laminated bat was to get as much
"quarter sawn" grain around the potential contact area or
the bat as possible. Four squares of 45 degrees to each
face would be the optimal grain orientation.

Contact Face A
+----+-----+ +----+-----+
Contact |\\\\|////| | | | | | | | | | |
Face +----+-----+ | | | | | | | | | |
B |////|\\\\| | | | | | | | | | |
+----+-----+ +----+-----+

Was an interesting side track though.

And when it comes to athletes and their equiptment,
if voodoo works they'll use it (along with human growth
hormones, steroids and other "performance enhancing
drugs"). Then there's the Placebo Effect - if you think
it will help - it just might.

charlie b

Ho Hum.