Custom Jig for Engraving a Baseball Bat on the Rotary Indexer
This example offers a solution that can be applied to any unusually shaped item.
My shop recently ran into a problem engraving handmade baseball bats. The first issue was that when we laid the bats on top of our rotary indexer, the back end would not touch the indexer wheels at the rear – instead, the bat laid on top of the aluminum at the rear of the indexer and would not turn without slipping all over the place; the second issue was that handmade items have the potential to have different diameters as the bats are turned by hand.
To solve the first problem, we cut a two piece round acrylic jig to raise the bat up. The jig rode at the back of the indexer, on top of the wheels, and solved the problem. For each of the 12 handmade bats, we used aluminum duct tape to hold the jig together on the bats.
To solve the second problem, we used foam tape on the inside of the jig to take up any slack and account for small differences. This worked out well, giving us a little bit of room for any inconsistencies.
-Mike Westbrook, Mile High Laser Engraving
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