Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: Dogman713 on August 26, 2019, 10:13:04 PM
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Hi all. I’ve recently took delivery of a Charlie French Heritage bat. It’s been delivered completely naked, no toe guard or face protection etc. I was just wondering in what order do I oil, knock in, fit toe guard (if at all) and fit scuff sheet / edging tape?
Many thanks.
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Welcome to the forum. First rule is, when we speak of a new bat being bought, pictures are required, otherwise said bat does not exist. ;) (You can embed via uploading images to an image hosting website of your choice, if you wish to share)
How long do you have to prepare the bat? If you've got a month to spare, I would recommend the following steps:
- A light coat of raw linseed oil on the face, edges and toe in the exposed parts of willow, avoiding the splice. Let it penetrate into the surface for a day or two and don't oil the back yet
- Another light coat, and wait for 2 days
- Inspect bat, and if there's still a little bit of oil on the surface, give it a good wipe with kitchen towel, then leave for another day for good measure.
- Now we can start the knocking process, I would recommend doing this over a couple of days, and not to rush it. Start off on the edges, you can knock them at a 45 degree angle, but make sure to do it lightly and evenly
- I would recommend about 30 mins on each edge, probably spread over 2 days
- Next up, give the toe a good 30 mins of knocking. (In case it's not clear, this is the bottom 2-3 inches of the face)
- Give the rest of the face a good knock after this. It will be tempting to hammer the middle a fair bit to hear the sound, but I generally try not to knock the middle too much, as it isn't needed so much
- After this, give the bat a feel and ensure that there is no moist feeling around the edges due to any residual oil that hasn't been taken in by the fibres
- Apply scuff sheet, and then give the bat a good once over with the mallet for about 10 minutes
- For toe protection, you can use varnish, more oil, shoe goo or a toe guard
- Finish up by giving one coat of oil to the back of the bat in all the exposed areas of wood. Remember to avoid oiling around the splice.
As a general rule of thumb, start off lightly striking the willow, slowly increasing the force as the knocking process proceeds. Just enough to make small indentations is the perfect amount of strength to put into it. Would recommend watching some Youtube videos of knocking in guides.
Hope this helps!
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Hi all. I’ve recently took delivery of a Charlie French Heritage bat. It’s been delivered completely naked, no toe guard or face protection etc. I was just wondering in what order do I oil, knock in, fit toe guard (if at all) and fit scuff sheet / edging tape?
Many thanks.
That's actually better, they add additional weight to the bat. Does it have stickers?
I'd rather bat makers just send you a bat with a single grip and noting on it - no stickers, no face sheet, and no toe guard. This way, you get as much wood in the bat as possible for your ideal weight.
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(https://www.dropbox.com/s/zds20zx8v1amofd/Photo%2022-08-2019%2C%2011%2056%2012.jpg?dl=0)
Thanks for the replies! The information is much appreciated. I’ve tried to add a photo but being new to this I’m not sure if it will work.
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https://www.dropbox.com/s/zds20zx8v1amofd/Photo%2022-08-2019%2C%2011%2056%2012.jpg?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/zds20zx8v1amofd/Photo%2022-08-2019%2C%2011%2056%2012.jpg?dl=0)
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https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gn66kgrt5bp8lsy/AABgpg_nLvGMEtEq4KvkZLjBa?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gn66kgrt5bp8lsy/AABgpg_nLvGMEtEq4KvkZLjBa?dl=0)
Hopefully this is a group of photos. Excuse the multiple posts as I experiment. 🤦♂️😂
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https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gn66kgrt5bp8lsy/AABgpg_nLvGMEtEq4KvkZLjBa?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gn66kgrt5bp8lsy/AABgpg_nLvGMEtEq4KvkZLjBa?dl=0)
Hopefully this is a group of photos. Excuse the multiple posts as I experiment. 🤦♂️😂
That's a pretty long middle with lots of meat in the profile - @ 2.9, it's a lovely profile indeed!
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That is a beautiful looking bat
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Lovely grains on that. Should go beautifully. I always think its a shame adding oil and darkening the new wood, but it has to be I guess...
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Lovely bat, great profile!
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Hi all. I’ve recently took delivery of a Charlie French Heritage bat. It’s been delivered completely naked, no toe guard or face protection etc. I was just wondering in what order do I oil, knock in, fit toe guard (if at all) and fit scuff sheet / edging tape?
Many thanks.
Lovely bat, Charlie does a great job, I always enjoyed going round to chat with him. You do know that's a Firebird, not a Heritage, right?
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Lovely bat, Charlie does a great job, I always enjoyed going round to chat with him. You do know that's a Firebird, not a Heritage, right?
I actually didn’t realise! I ordered a Heritage and presumed I received a Heritage. Very happy with the bat but isn’t the Firebird cheaper?
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Charlie makes a cracking bat. My current match bat is 3 seasons old now and is an absolute gun.
Will definitely be making a trip down to Nottingham to get another made and current bat refurbed
One of nicest men in cricket
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Lovely bat, Charlie does a great job, I always enjoyed going round to chat with him. You do know that's a Firebird, not a Heritage, right?
I contacted Charlie asking him if he’d sent the wrong bat. He assured me that I’d received the Heritage standard bat that I’d ordered but he’d ran out of stickers so used the Firebird.
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I contacted Charlie asking him if he’d sent the wrong bat. He assured me that I’d received the Heritage standard bat that I’d ordered but he’d ran out of stickers so used the Firebird.
Thought you said it was delivered naked?
How is the bat going as looking at his range so would be good to hear your thoughts
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Sorry it did have stickers on. No scuff sheet or toe guard. I’ve been slowly knocking it for a couple of weeks. As the season is now finished there’s no rush for me use it until next season. I’ll probably use it in the nets against slow bowling during the winter.