Anderson Bat Q & A

[WrongArm]

Got a quick question for Tumblebug...

Do you have an opinion on whether a Nanotek bat can survive cryogenic treatment without suffering structural damage? I had this done on another company's bat a few years ago with an eye to helping it survive early spring baseball games in central and upstate New York where 60 degrees is just a dream. I'm interested in doing this to a baseball bat, but the answer may have some intertest for softball too. Thanks.

[Tumblebug]

I understand you cant rush this stuff.. But HURRY UP!!!! ~~ Thanks for the update tumblebug. Im sure youd like to get it out soon too. It's kinda too bad you'll miss the Christmas season. But sales for spring should be good if you can get them out before then and people start talking.

Question: Having a true -10 and a swing -10, how are you going to mark and market both bats? Call the swing-10 a -9 or?? Curious more than anything.
thanks

It is one bat where the two numbers match. We have traditionally had a heavier overall weight but a lower swing weight. This bat will be the beginning of a whole product line that features the advantages of differing MOI results. The first one being a baseline for balanced. pretty interesting stuff, we'll see how it catches on.

[Tumblebug]

Got a quick question for Tumblebug...

Do you have an opinion on whether a Nanotek bat can survive cryogenic treatment without suffering structural damage? I had this done on another company's bat a few years ago with an eye to helping it survive early spring baseball games in central and upstate New York where 60 degrees is just a dream. I'm interested in doing this to a baseball bat, but the answer may have some intertest for softball too. Thanks.

I'd have to know way more about what you mean by cryogenic treatment to give a complete answer but my experience with cryogenics is that it is basically a stress relief wherein the stresses built in from manufacture are relieved through the process. I first heard of it in aerospace and then had some experience with it with One-Cryo in Washington State. But I can't be sure exactly what you're planning to have done.

The trouble is that cryogenic temperatures do not significantly improve the mechanical properties of the aluminum material in a way that will cause the product to hold up better in cold weather because the bat is not the problem. Cold temps make the alloy only slightly more fragile until you get to really low temps.

The real problem is that the balls become significantly harder in the cold. At 30 degrees a ball that has a listed compression of 375# will have an actual compression of 750# or more. So it follows that unless the cryogenic process can soften a frozen ball, it really does no good to do the treatment to help the bat hold up better in the cold.

[daylightkate]

The real problem is that the balls become significantly harder in the cold. At 30 degrees a ball that has a listed compression of 375# will have an actual compression of 750# or more. So it follows that unless the cryogenic process can soften a frozen ball, it really does no good to do the treatment to help the bat hold up better in the cold.

Tumble, I'm glad you brought up the point of the ball being significantly harder in the cold. Would there be any benefit to warming your bat in let's say 45-50 F (7-10 C for us)weather? You would still encounter the frozen ball issue! Would you cause any damage to the bat?

Tks, Kate
P.S. People, before you go there, let's try to keep it clean with the any "frozen balls" comments....

[Skarp]

P.S. People, before you go there, let's try to keep it clean with the any "frozen balls" comments....

It wouldn't have even occurred to us.

But, since you raise the issue, how does one go about thawing frozen balls anyway? (A Canadian perspective might be particularly helpful on this topic, so please feel free to opine.)

[GIMNEPIWO]

P.S. People, before you go there, let's try to keep it clean with the any "frozen balls" comments....

It wouldn't have even occurred to us.

But, since you raise the issue, how does one go about thawing frozen balls anyway? (A Canadian perspective might be particularly helpful on this topic, so please feel free to opine.)

[WrongArm]

Tumblebug,

Thanks for the reply. Previously, I had an industrial cryo shop treat a Louisville Slugger Dynasty. I believe the procedure involved a slow descent to some ungodly cold temp, a resting phase, and a slow return to regular temps. This was done a few years ago and I heard that there were a few disreputable shops without much experience or proper equipment performing the treatment on bats, so I went to an established industrial supplier close to home. They took the bat more as a curiosity than as a new stream of revenue.

My assumption was that relieving the stress in the metal could only be a good thing and might improve the durability of the bat under tough conditions, like, for example, cold weather and overly hard baseballs. The procedure wasn't particularly expensive at the time so even a small improvement would have been a win.

My question has to do more with the non-metal parts of the bat, particularly adhesives and plastic parts. The cryo'd bat showed no ill effects, but I was concerned that adhesives used in the assembly, if any, might fail. I was prepared, for example, to regrip the bat and I was praying the end cap would still be attached.

I'm replacing this bat with a new NanoTek and I don't want to turn it into an expensive paperweight. Obviously, this procedure is beyond the scope or ordinary use for a bat and I'm not asking for an official authorization, just an engineer's best guess. I can hear the conversation with customer service..."no I didn't hit any balls with temperatures below 60 degrees, but I did have the bat down to minus 300..."

[MDSoftball]

Be sure you don't tell the umpire you did this. You are altering the bat.

[dittoz]

If you're worried about balls being frozen, I rather suspect those are being altered too!

[WrongArm]

Be sure you don't tell the umpire you did this. You are altering the bat.

A few yeas ago (I'm getting old and everything feels like "a few" years) Team Express offered cryo'd and standard versions of most popular aluminum bats. Although these versions are no longer offered, they were sold over a period of several years. It was certainly illegal to alter a bat then too. If rules have changed or been clarified and the process has been ruled illegal, then, obviously, my feasability question is moot.

Spending $30 or so to improve the durability of a $400 bat seems like a good investment, especially if it is used in less than ideal conditions. Or maybe not.