So far we have looked at the process of rolling a composite bat and the equipment used to do the rolling. Now we will take a little look at the beginning of both, and how it has evolved.
Composite Bats
Composite bats were originally introduced to the playing public in the early 80s’, to the slow pitch softball segment of the sport. At the time the aluminum bat was the most popular out selling and out performing the wood bats that had been used up till then. As it turned out the aluminum bat also out performed the new composite bat, so the composite bat did not gain much favor with the players of the game. But in 2001 with advances in technology and materials Louisville Slugger earned the award of “Best Performance” with their newly designed composite 토토꽁머니 bats. And that is when the bat wars started, because in 2002 Miken also came out with their newly designed composite bats. From then till now the technology has grown in leaps and bounds, and all the bat manufactures are producing composite bats. Not only are they using the woven glass fibers as a composite material, they are using carbon, graphite and kevlar to make the new high performance bats. These advances in technology have also brought about rules changes to make sure the safety of the players is maintained.
Advantages
There are five major advantages to the composite bat over its rivals. They are, swing weight,bending stiffness bending vibration, trampoline effect, and lastly sound. The swing weight is reduced because it is much easier to move the center of the bat mass closer to the handle in the production process of the composite bat. This is also true for the bat stiffness and the handle vibration, because the different types of materials they are able to use. By altering these materials they can alter stiffness and vibration. The trampoline effect can be increased because of the physics of elastic collision, also determined by the application and procedures and application of different materials. And lastly the sound. The composite bat gives a much more solid sound than its aluminum brother.
The Break In
When the composite bat exploded onto the market, after a period of time, it was discovered that with more use the bats actually improved in performance. They hit further, and had less vibration transferred to the handle. Now, the bat manufactures suggest a break in period of 500 to 600 hits before the bat reaches its designed B.E.S.R., or ball exit speed ratio. Back in 2002 this idea was totally new. So if the rules of today state a maximum B.E.S.R. of 98 miles per hour, a new bat fresh out of the wrapper may only have a B.E.S.R. of 92 or 93 mph to allow for the break in process, and the bat reaches its maximum performance. Bat rolling has become popular because it accelerates this process and eliminates a lot of the wear and tear hitting 600 balls puts on a bat.
How Rolling Got Started
In California a guy, probably a machinist, used a metal forming devise called an English Wheel to help his bat perform better. An English Wheel is a large piece of equipment that has two large convex steel wheels, about 8 inchs’ in diameter, set one on top of the other. Used to form metal, these wheels can be brought together using a foot pedal, to determine how much pressure is applied to the metal during the rolling, or forming process. So this guy put his bat between the rollers, moved it in and out, rotated it and continued the process around the barrel of his bat. Thus, perpendicular bat rolling came into being. After this a much smaller devise was made, using nylon rollers. and a clamping devise to apply the needed pressure to loosen the fibers of the bat.
How About Parallel Rolling
In 2006 or 2007 a guy in Michigan introduced the first parallel bat rolling machine.This was more advanced than the perpendicular type rollers. It had two 7 inch polyethylene rollers. set parallel to each other, in a very precise clamping devise. It had four independent clamping adjustments instead of a single central adjuster to control the clamping pressure. The bat was set between the rollers using a register devise, to make certain it was straight, and by turning the rollers and using the 4 fine tune adjusters, a bat barrel was completely rolled in just a few sequences. His devise could, however, also be used to roll the bat in a perpendicular manner, thus having the best of both operations. And thus the parallel rolling machine was introduced.