Billet aluminum bat

All the tooling is in the basement and I WILL be down there sometime tomorrow evening . I have to cut both the yards first thing off . :rolleyes:
 
Ok, my issue with the taper was I needed to run the taper 3"s, and end with a TOTAL of 1/2" off, which even I know would be .250 for a total of 1/2",I gave bad information, and got the correct solution for the bad info... Sometimes I'm a 12 volt bulb in a 6 volt socket. Not so bright DUH, I got it now. LOL
 
I have the correct diameter/length drill bits I need now for the barrel, and the handle, so from setup in the 4 jaw with the raw blank, to ready for paint took 2 hrs 45 min. That's down from 4 hrs, I feel better about that. After the turning, and knurling the bat weight was 3.6 lbs, after drilling it weighs 2.2 lbs, 1.4 lbs all in the chip tray :)

 
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if you're going to start some kind of production, it might be worth looking into thick walled pipe and see if you can find something that would work. I have some 8ft lengths of 2 1/2" pipe with a 1" hole, for example. Something like that would save you an awful lot of time drilling.
 
That would be a benefit, if I could find the right dimensions. I cannot fit anything over 1.750 through the chuck through bore, and the lathe it's self is only 1.5. What I end up with now is the maximum that I can fit on the bed length, and still work. As it is I start drilling with the tail stock clamped half way off the bed. The handle bore is smaller than 1", and the grip is ~ 1.250. It's labor intensive for sure, and the demand is going to drop off. The guys who are asking are paying a 100 bucks each, so I went from 18.75 an hr to 25 dollars an hr now so, I got a raise :grin:
 
just checked and mine is actually 1.5" OD 1" ID :oops: Had a look and could only find 0.25" wall pipe, so nothing that would really work for your bat.
 
Thanks for looking Matt :encourage:
 
How about 1.75 OD x 0.75 ID, 6061 tube.

Speedy Metals 1-3/4" OD x 0.750" ID x .500" Wall 6061 Aluminum Round Tube

Buy 6061 Aluminum Round Tube from Speedy Metals, America's favorite online metal store with unsurpassed service, highest quality and best selection.
www.speedymetals.com

Yest it will save drilling time BUT the tubing is usually around double the cost of the solid bar. Factories where time is money will will pay the extra for the time savings You would have to decide just how much time it would save you on your parts.

There could be better pricing, this was just the first place I looked. Other alloys may have different pricing to.
 
I'll check the link now :encourage:
I'm using 24" lengths @~25 bucks a length, vs the tubing at 67 dollars a 24" length, it's looking expensive. I'm glad to see what the options are though.


I'll go check the order of operations, and see if there is enough time savings
 
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