How Is an Aluminum Baseball Bat Made?
While wood is still the material used for bats in professional baseball, aluminum bats are used by a huge majority of baseball teams in the college, high school and recreational leagues. How wooden baseball bats are made seems fairly self explanatory, but how they make aluminum bats is a multi-step process.Processing Raw Tube StockThe aluminum bats start out as simple tubes that range in length from 24 to 35 inches. The tube is slid through a die using hydraulic pressure, then the diameter of the rod is reduced using two opposing dies that rotate around the tube at a rate of 850 revolutions per minute. They impact the tube over 5,000 times a minute and gradually reduce the diameter of the tube.Heat treatingHeat treating softens the aluminum tube by using a salt bath heated to 900 degrees. After 20 minutes, the aluminum is placed in a water tank, in a process known as “quenching”. Quenching the metal prepares it for aging.AgingTo re-harden the aluminum and in turn make the bats stronger
