How to Design a Baseball Bat Display

Measure the baseball bat(s) to be put on display. Most regulation size bats will measure anywhere from 26 to 34 inches.

Draw a case 40 inches long by 12 inches wide (in this case, high) at 1:10 of the actual size (in your design plan) to put a bat on display. Pick a material that works with a baseball bat display (most likely wood) and include this information in the design by stating the type of wood to work with, how to cut it to fit the dimensions needed and what tools are needed to complete this stage. This is the first step of the overall design.

Explain how to add a 40-inch-by-12-inch piece of colored felt to one side of a 40-inch-by-12-inch piece of wood with a new drawing separate from Step 2. Provide steps explaining how to attach the felt and smooth it out against the piece of wood so there aren't any weird air pockets.

Show how to attach the 40-inch-by-12-inch piece of wood to the back of the case. Redraw an updated version of the original case (so far), adding the back piece to the design. The felt side should appear inside the box. Provide the steps for how to attach this piece to the back of the display case, including what materials (nails, screws?) work best to attach the piece in the design.

Create a plan for how the bat will be held in the display in the design. Most bat displays are similar to gun racks (see photo), which have 1-inch-by-2-inch slots cut into the sides that can easily hold the barrel and stock of a shotgun or hunting rifle. Using a similar thought process, draw two pieces of wood (separate to the running overall design in Step 4) that fit into the width of the display. Draw in the dimensions for the cuts in the design. To fit both the barrel and handle of a baseball bat, the cuts need to be rounded slots at 4 inches wide by 1 inch deep.

Create an updated overall design adding the "bat rack" from Step 5 to the display. Include the plan for how to attach the pieces of the rack, whether it will be with nails or screws.

Draw a plan for building a wood frame that will be placed on the front of the display case, in a separate plan to the side of Step 6. The frame should meet the dimensions of the case, 40 inches by 12 inches (or whatever the width of the case is). The frame can be as thick or thin as desired, but there should be room to insert a piece of glass into the frame.

Attach the frame to the case with two hinges as the next update to the overall design. Show what the display will look like with its front end (the glass frame) open and closed in front and side views of the overall design. Explain in this step how to attach the hinges to both the frame and then the display, and how to position the hinges so the front opens outward.

Show the back side of the case and draw a plan for how to properly hang the display case from a wall.