# Baseball Bat Bed



## Troy Hoepker (Jul 31, 2008)

Hi everyone! I'm new to the site and really like the info everyone provides on here. I'm looking for any ideas on making a bed for my little boy. I want to make a bed frame with a baseball bat theme. The idea in my head is to use 18" mini bats as slats or ballisters on the headboard and footboard keeping each one close enough together as to not pose any kind of safety hazard. The mini bats would be doweled into horizontal boards that then mortise into posts on each corner. Then I would run bed length boards along the side connecting the headboard and footboard. I might then cut a full sized ball bats in half and attach the halves to the sides of the posts. I'm looking for more or perhaps better ideas or pictures of anything you've done or seen lately that has this kind of theme. Also what kind of wood to use? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Troy Hoepker

Welcome to the thread. You didn't say what state you live in so this may not help your current situation but, I was in our local Salvation Army store the other day and one of the local schools had donated all the old sports gear. They must have had 100 baseball bats for sell at $1.00 a bat. I stood there for 20 minutes trying to think of something to do with them, and couldn't. 
Now on the plan issue, You can do a search on the internet by typing in "free baseball bat bed plans" or anything close to it, and you should find something usable. Or you can buy all kinds of auto-cad programs out there to do real nice measured drawings $$$. But I draw everything to scale using Microsoft Paint. Which is already in most computers. I sat down one day and figured out how big a drawing would be after it was printed. So now I have a forula for drawing. Only problem with it is, it only fits my monitor size. I tried it in my laptop and it didnt come out the same.


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## NorthernDIY (Apr 11, 2008)

Troy Hoepker,
Have you had any luck finding plans? I too am looking to build something along those same lines, However I am going to try and incorporate a few more sports into what I would like to make. If you found anything helpful would you mind sending it my way or a link to it, and if I find anything I will definitely pass it on.


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## Troy Hoepker (Jul 31, 2008)

I haven't had a lot of luck, but did find one interesting link that had a bed that was kinda close to what I'm thinking of. 

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/tag/baseball

If anyone else has any ideas feel free to share them. I think this will be a really cool project, if I'm good enough to pull it off. Hope this helps and good luck with your project as well!


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## Nate1778 (Mar 10, 2008)

Can't help you with the design although it sounds cool. Wood used here in Louisville is Ash, although they gave Maple a try, but I hear those bats are hurting people. You might give Hillerich & Bradsby (Louisville Slugger) a call ( (502) 585-5226) and see if they have any reject bats they might want to sell at a discount.


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## Troy Hoepker (Jul 31, 2008)

Thanks Nate! Great advice. This project is going to be expensive as it is, so any way to save a few bucks is greatly appreciated! One idea I'm going to use is to have each mini-bat or spindle be a louisville slugger bat, each with a different major team logo on it. I figured I could just go online and find these relatively easy. Not so! So awhile back I called the Louisville Slugger Musuem directly and they said they could ship whichever teams I wanted directly to me. This will save me a ton in shipping costs. I already have about 4 of them from different stadiums of games we've attended but finding them at the ballpark seemed to be the only other way to locate them. I was thinking about using Maple for the headboard but not sure about working with or even finding ash. Never worked with it before? i've got to look into that a little more before I begin the project.

Thanks again for the idea and even taking the time to give me the phone number! Really apprecciate it!:thumbsup:


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## Nate1778 (Mar 10, 2008)

I am not real used to working with Ash either. The one thing you might consider is Ash has a fairly substantial grain pattern where as Maple is a bit lighter in the grain. I think when Ash is finished it will look more like a Baseball bat, but I am guessing thats cause what they are made from. I don't know if there is any huge price difference between the two although depending on where you live the Ash might be harder to get with the infestation quarantine going on right now. Good luck and post some pics, I have two baby boys and need some inspiration.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Most of the bats you'll run across will be Ash. You might save on hardwood prices and machining by using Ash plywood. Laying out your own plans for a bed isn't all that difficult, even if it's the first time. You can figure out the whole plan on paper, and work out the sizes of the parts to look in good scale. Even if you used a large scale for reference, all you really need is a detail of the corners and a snip of the connective pieces. That way you can plan the joinery. You mentioned cutting a bat in half. If you meant in half...longitudinally, that's another whole thread.


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