Introduction: DIY Baseball Bat Holder
In this instructable, I show you how to make a baseball bat holder to hang on a wall. Even if you don’t need a baseball bat rack, the DIY tips can be directly applied to any woodworking project.
This wall mount baseball bat holder not only provides a place to store old baseball equipment, but it also serves as a piece of wall art to preserve memories.
There are several things which are difficult to fully explain with words and images, so be sure to check out the video tutorial above.
Supplies
All the tools I used for this project are listed below. Keep in mind, you don't need every item on this list. I encourage you to use what you have available and only purchase or borrow the items you need.
**Circular Saw (Table Saw Alternative)
**Jig Saw (Alternative for Bandsaw)
Drill Press (You can also use a drill)
Step 1: Prepare Wood
I started this project by milling my lumber. Wood projects go much smoother when the lumber has 2 straight edges and 2 flat faces.
If you don't want to mill the lumber yourself, no problem. Simply purchase the wood in the size/dimensions you need or ask the wood dealer to do it for you.
First, I used my straight board jig with 2 dovetail clamps to get one straight side. Then, I put the straight side against the table saw fence, set my desired width and ran it through.
The piece of cherry was about 1.75″ thick. So, I used my bandsaw to resaw it so that I had about a 1″ piece. I resawed the 1″ piece of cherry again so that I had 2 pieces ~1/2″ each. Afterwards, I ran the 2 pieces of cherry through the planer 2 times on each side to remove the imperfections from the resaw.
Step 2: Create Template
I began making the template to hold the baseball bats. The most important measurements are the width of the barrel, the width of the grip above the knob, and the width of the knob.
The width of the barrel ensures the bats do not touch each other while hanging from the rack. In addition, it determines the number of bats the baseball bat holder can hold and the distance the hole needs to be from the front.
The measurement of the grip and knob determine the width the hole needs to be in order to securely hold the bats in place.
First, I used my combination square and double-sided pencil to draw a reference line horizontally across the piece of cherry. This reference line marked the center of the hole I needed to drill. Next, I used my combination square to draw vertical lines which intersected with the horizontal line I drew in the previous step.
This center of each cross is where the center of the hole needed to be. Then, I determined I needed the width of the handle to be approximately 1.25″ wide because the actual width of the handle was 1″.
I used my automatic center punch tool to punch a small indentation. This will help stabilize the forstner bit.
Step 3: Drill Holes
Next, I took the piece of cherry to the drill press and drilled 15 evenly spaced holes with a 1.25″ forstner bit. I used a scrap piece of wood below the piece of cherry to reduce tear out.
Step 4: Mark Lines on Back Piece
I used a 1.25" piece of Walnut and marked 2 horizontal lines 1" from the bottom and 1" from the top.
Step 5: Cut Dados on Table Saw
I set my table saw to cut 1″ deep and aligned the fence to cut at 1″ (on the horizontal line I drew in the previous step). Next, I made one slow pass at 1″ and 4 more passes after moving the fence 1/16″ after each pass.
I repeated this process for the other line.
I wanted the pieces of Cherry to barely fit in the dados; otherwise, it would not be secure. Luckily, it fit the first time.
Step 6: Cut Out Template
First, I used my jig saw and it did the job perfectly. This piece of Cherry holds the bats & the other piece with the holes will hold Baseballs.
Next, I spent extra time at the Oscillating Spindle Sander smoothing out the cuts.
Step 7: Roundover Edges
This step is optional and can be done with a sander and sandpaper if you don't have a router.
I used my handheld router with a 1/4″ roundover bit on the 2 pieces of cherry and the piece of Walnut.
Step 8: Sand Wood
I sanded 3 pieces of wood using my Orbital Sander with 220 grit sandpaper.
Step 9: Attach Bat and Baseball Holder
The special tip on my glue dispenser came in handy to make a fine bead of glue on the bottom and each side of the dados.
I placed each piece of cherry into the dados (bat rack on bottom and ball holder on top).
Next, I lightly clamped them down with F-Clamps while the glue set.
Step 10: Remove Router Burn Marks
Obviously, my router RPM was set too high or my router bit was dull, which caused burn marks. I fixed these with my dremel tool and sandpaper.
Step 11: Glove Holder Addition
I needed to figure out a way to hang 2 old gloves on this DIY Baseball Bat Display Rack.
So, I decided to drill 2 – 3/8″ holes at a 45 degree angle on my drill press using my drill press table to hold 3/8″ dowels.
Next, I inserted the maple dowels into the holes to test the fit and needed to widen the holes a bit, so I grabbed my drill with a 3/8″ bit.
Then, I put glue on the maple dowels, inserted them into the holes, and used my Japanese trim saw to cut off the excess from the back.
Step 12: Attach Baseball to Dowel
First, I placed 2 baseballs in my bench vise and drilled a 3/8″ hole about half way into the baseball.Next, I put the baseballs on the end of each dowel, but chose to not use any glue because the fit was really snug.
Plus, I may want to change this one day.
Step 13: Apply Finish
I used a mixture of 1/3 oil/urethane & 2/3 Linseed oil.
In addition, I used the oil/urethane because I didn’t have any poly. Then, I applied the finish with a lint free cloth and put on 2 thin coats.
Step 14: French Cleat Mounting System
I went a little overboard on making the french cleat mounting system b/c it really doesn't need to be this complicated. If I were to build this again, I would simply buy this mounting system from Amazon.
I decided to use a french cleat system as a wall mount to hang the DIY Baseball Bat Display Rack on the wall. French cleats are easy to move around and it can hold a significant amount of weight.
Since I did not have enough plywood, I used multiple pieces instead of 1 long piece. The french cleat is the exact same length/width of the Walnut minus 1/8th of an inch in length and width on all sides.
This helps to hide the french cleat from view while standing in front of the Baseball Bat Display Rack.
I stained the plywood with a gel wood stain (Ebony) to blend in with the Walnut and it worked out ‘ok’.
The stain turned out darker than I wanted, but it blends well enough
Step 15: Conclusion
I hope this instructable provided you with value. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions - I'm happy to help.
Be sure to checkout my YouTube channel and my website for more DIY tutorials.
This is an entry in the
For the Home Contest
