UV effects on vintage baseball bats ?

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Posted By: E, Daniel

I've just bought my second vintage bat, a 20's era store model Ruth bat, and am planning to put in a display cabinet. Some models tout UV protection as part of the glass or acrylic display and it has me wondering..?
I know the effects of UV on paper and the need to reduce as much as possible exposure to light - however, I'm not really sure of how a bat reacts to similar UV rays.
Will the general tone of the bat fade? Or the lettering lighten?
Are there display cabinets you recommend highly?

Thanks to any who can set me straight.


Daniel

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I have just started to worry about light fading my items...I never worried about equipment though and now that you say that I'm wondering about that too. I have a decal bat on the way and now I'm getting a little paranoid here. Actually I've always avoided any kind of fluorescent lighting as I've seen what it does to cards in my local card shop that have sat in lighted cabinets for a long time.

I recently started making reproductions of my Nebraska Indians cabinets and postcards because I like to display my stuff and I like my cabinet lit up.

Every postcard and cabinet photo in this cabinet is a reproduction except for the large cabinet photo..I am working on trying to get good repros of the two books and the large photo.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

UV light can lighten wood, cloth and paper, but it's not as a big an issue with a bat. Even if sun lightened a bat 10 percent that may not alter the financial value. To check the effects, just look at wood items around the house, like furniture or wall panels.

Regular window glass blocks about half of UV light. Glass that is UVA and UVB protectent should prevent most.

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Posted By: E, Daniel

I couldn't have asked for two better guys to jump in! And I'm glad I've got you thinking about that awesome Wagner Decal bat Dan , as well as your other wonderful pieces.
Noting how you mention reproducing your pieces for display so that you can maintain the best possible integrity of the originals, it has me thinking.....
Not only do people collect for differing reasons (which we've painstakingly gone over before on the card forum) but added to that, once the pieces get to us - I think we assume vastly different ownership duties.
Some, like card owners such as Frank W. and others who like all their cards nude - are regular handlers of their items and don't worry greatly about adding too much wear through their period of ownership. And others, I won't speak for you Dan - but will for myself, see ourselves as merely passing custodians lucky enough to enjoy the items for a relatively short time before they invevitably pass on to other hands. And in that time, we try to cause as little harm as possible to these scarce artifacts.

Having said that, part of my joy is definitely knowing that the item I have on the wall is an original, has substantial value, is desired by others, but that i am the lucky sod to be within arms length of it. I'm not real sure if I'd enjoy having the pieces knowing they were repros..?


Daniel

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

I have all the original items, but they are either in the safe deposit box or stashed away from light. If I ever want to get out the originals I can...you should see my safe deposit box records....nobody that works at my bank has to ask for an ID from me...and they walk directly to my box.

It wasn't until Rob (RamRam) made note of my cabinet photos in one of my posts where he told me to get them out of the light that I really started thinking. The repros are not going to fool an expert or even someone with passing knowledge, but at arms length you can't really tell and I never have to worry about opening the shades or turning on the cabinet light....or even the little neighbor kids that my kid invites over nearly every day.

Oh, and all items are marked repro on the back...not only so a newbie won't get taken in the future, but so my wife knows what's real and what's not when I kick.