Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Bat Care => Topic started by: Rez on May 25, 2021, 06:41:31 PM
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That's it... you read it right :D
There are always lots of debates about which is best, stronger, lighter etc but was giving a new blade a bit of new blade lovin' and thought I would share a very obvious observation.
New bat, pretty much half and half... quite grainy (a bit wobbly but grainy nonetheless). Applied quite a healthy first layer of linseed oil as I like to do and generally return after an hour or so to lightly wipe away any excess and then leave for a couple of days to fully soak in.
So when I returned to the bat after a while, there was a very obvious divide where on the sapwood side any excess oil had already soaked in fully but the heartwood side seemed far less porous and most of the oil was still sat on top.
Not earth shattering but to a bat geek it was an interesting sight so just thought I would share! Maybe heartwood makes for a better wet weather bat.....
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Good question, I always thought the heartwood was dryer and more brittle, but there maybe more to it.
Was the bat flat or was it lying at an angle?
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Isn’t heartwood denser, therefore less area for the oil to seep in to?
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Isn’t heartwood denser, therefore less area for the oil to seep in to?
Yep, Mark
Heartwood will never take as much oil in as sapwood!
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Hmm... I was always taught that heartwood soaks in more oil compared to sap wood as its drier? Maybe I am wrong? Can anyone confirm?
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Hmm... I was always taught that heartwood soaks in more oil compared to sap wood as its drier? Maybe I am wrong? Can anyone confirm?
Yes Kai, you're wrong about this, but that's a general thought, as practically, heartwood takes much less oil in.
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Good question, I always thought the heartwood was dryer and more brittle, but there maybe more to it.
Was the bat flat or was it lying at an angle?
Exactly, everything you read always suggests heartwood is drier. The bat was as flat as flat could be, you would be happy to build a house on one of my bats that has been oiled!
I should have taken a picture as it was like when it only rains on one side of the road. Oil level applied evenly across the blade, left perfectly flat and after about an hour the 'oil on top'/'no oil on top' divide perfectly followed the heartwood/sapwood boundary for the full length of the blade.