Wood Grading 

Grading systems in the wood bat and billet industry are numerous and confusing. Each manufacturer defines the various grades differently based on how they create their products. Using the lumber industry grading systems are limited to clarity of color and presence of various defects. All are important to bat makers, but we have other concerns as well.

Other considerations for grade sorting are:

• weight
• Straightness of grain
• Grain line porosity
• Numbers of grains per inch (usually ash)
• presence of grain condensing at the barrel end
• slope of grain
• presence of flats

The following is a summary of our sorting definitions:

• MLB grade: Straight grain min. of 22"
• Slope of grain less than 3 degrees on the edge grain surface
• Slope of grain less than 3 degrees on the face grain, ink dot tested
• No knots, inclusions, holes
• No excessively wavy grain
• No sound knot larger than 1/4" dia.
• No end checking

A-Grade: Straight grain min. of 22"

• No knots, inclusions, holes
• No excessively wavy grain
• No sound knot larger than 1/4" dia.
• No end checking

B-Grade: No grain specification

• No sound knot larger than 1/4" dia.
• No end checking

Grain Count

• Used primarily for ash. Grain count can vary. Although there is no real evidence that increased grain count means stronger wood, some bat makers and ballplayers prefer high grain counts. Typically our A-grade is sorted for straightness of grain regardless of grain count, however, sorting by grain count is available for those who request it at an additional charge.

Grain Color

• Color sorting is subjective. Obviously, dark wood, mineral staining, worm lines, etc. are undesirable if you are clear coating the wood.
• We sort color defects within the grades. This means that A-grade wood billets are available with or without color defects. By ordering mixed A-grade you expand the number of billets we can fill your order with.
• The wood is still premium grade but some of the bats will have to be painted.

Grain Porosity

• Not typically a factor in grading ash (open grain hardwoods), we feel porous grain lines can indicate lower durability and performance of the turned wood bat. Billets can be further sorted (additional fee) for very tight grain lines if requested.

Compression Zones and Closed Knots

• This is a unusual sorting criteria, however, we use it. We find that areas of compressed grain located in the barrel area (within 8" from the end) creates a harder hitting spot on the bat and translates to a harder hit baseball. We have several outstanding hitters requesting this from us and we can set aside these select billets if requested. We feel this is a highly desirable type of billet and it is the hardest type of billet to accumulate.

Flats

• Flats occur during the doweling process if the square billet is undersized in a particular side. Flats generally do not affect the final product if the flat is less than 1/2" in width. We automatically sort out major flats and make those billets available for youth size bats with smaller diameters.