Thanks, but i still dont understand how the moisture content of the cleft is factored into the calculation and controlled for? Lets say for example we have two clefts of equal volume, one has a moisture content of 8%, the other of 14%, given the above calculation then the 8% cleft will come out as 'less dense', but in reality is it not just lighter because it has a lower moisture content?
In short what is the difference between density and moisture content? As we all know manufacturers can just dry their clefts out to create bigger bats, but realistically this just makes them brittle and susceptible to living a short life...
They can be connected, as in imagine you had 2 clefts which were identical in weight and had a moisture content of 14%. If you dry out one to 10%, it would end up being less dense, as it has a lower mass for the same volume.
However, I'm with Walkingwicket here, I believe B3 control the moisture content of both handles and clefts, to ensure that they are consistent. (Streaky having worked with GM will probably agree with GMs way of ensuring quality control)
Assuming you have two clefts of the same size with the same moisture content, but one weighing less, the one which weighs less will obviously less dense. I think it is because of the cellular structure of the cleft itself, so maybe it has more pockets of air, which obviously weigh less than wood itself. The wood fibres in some clefts may just be slightly more compressed naturally - just a guess, not too sure of this.
Density is the mass over volume, and moisture content is just the amount of water that is in the cleft. The mass of the cleft consists of moisture content and the wood. So, in short, moisture content does contribute to the mass of the cleft, but not solely that. Hope this isn't wrong and makes sense!