Topic: Delamination - when do you give up? (Read 6197 times)

Chompy9760 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 04, 2021, 02:23:03 AM »

Thought I'd provide an update.
I bought some of the thin superglue as used in the video, prized apart the cracks, glued them, and very firmly taped and clamped them.
A few days later I gave it a sand, oil and polish, and this is what it looked like before fitting a scuff sheet.

After facing less than 150 balls in the nets, it was obvious that it was falling apart under the scuff.
When I removed it, this was the result.

You can see some of the marks where the latest superglue job was done, and it hasn't failed there, but in all new spots.
As I mentioned in another post, it's a 'weakest link' scenario, where the playing area seems full of weak links.
So if you have delamination that looks like this, my suggestion is to not waste too much time and effort fixing it up

Interesting that if anything, there is more damage in the sapwood part of the bat than the heartwood part.
I guess most of us prefer sapwood, but in this case the durbility of the heartwood doesn't appear to be any worse.

InternalTraining · « **Reply #16 on:** March 07, 2021, 03:49:10 PM »

Great thread @Chompy9760 , very informative!

I had a similar situation with a bat once. After two glue jobs, I just gave up.

Mfarank · « **Reply #17 on:** March 07, 2021, 08:49:04 PM »

I have faced similar delamination from a plain bat i had ordered from india. My conclusion is also that the cleft had the life dried out of it. Nothing much you can do to keep it together for long. Eventually it will just split diagonally like mine did

procricket · « **Reply #18 on:** March 08, 2021, 10:24:30 AM »

Looks like a dry bit of wood and bowling machine balls on it which will create this issue with the type of cracks

Quite common with mega grain and heartwood sapwood mix and no scuff applied it seems with the marks on the 1st picture

Chompy9760 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 09, 2021, 12:04:38 AM »

Quote from: procricket on March 08, 2021, 10:24:30 AM

Looks like a dry bit of wood and bowling machine balls on it which will create this issue with the type of cracks

Quite common with mega grain and heartwood sapwood mix and no scuff applied it seems with the marks on the 1st picture

Fair points, but to be clear, it was scuffed from the day I finished making it. Once it was obvious that there was major delamination underneath, the scuff was removed, and kept off for a short time as I waited to see how 3-4 gluing jobs would hold up, as I didn't want to waste a good scuff sheet on something that was a lost cause. After the final superglue job it was scuffed again. I'd guess it was scuffed for 95% of the balls it faced in it's short lifetime.

I'm unconvinced about laying the blame on bowling machine balls, as I have other bats that have hit thousands of the same BM balls without a single crack, although there is one horizontal crack on the toe of this one, which was def caused by a bowling machine ball when unscuffed (can be seen in the last pictures), but this crack is well away from the main delamination area.

Perhaps I'm deluding myself and just don't want to admit there's something I could have done to prevent it.

brokenbat · « **Reply #20 on:** March 09, 2021, 06:02:48 AM »

You had mentioned it�s a light weight cleft. That, plus this type of damage almost certainly proves that the cleft is over dried - ie it�s not actually a naturally light cleft, but a cleft that�s been made to look light via excessive drying. A naturally light cleft should have the same moisture content as a denser cleft.

Once you�ve given up on the bat, how about glueing down all the new cracks, and then giving it a few sprays of water (like you do prior to pressing)? Do that a few times (and keep weighing it to make sure it�s gaining a little weight), and then oil to seal in the new moisture, and try using again?
I would personally want to see at least a 2 oz gain (but perhaps up to 4oz) prior to oiling. Even normal bats lose 2oz here (North America) in the winters (heated homes are drier), so I assume an excessively dried cleft is prob 4 odd oz below its �natural� weight. Totally guessing these numbers but If I am right about the over dried thesis, the bat should quickly start gaining weight once you start spraying it.... the obvious challenge will be that the oil you�ve already put on the bat will repel the new moisture from the spraying !

Obviously a high risk strategy, but what do you have to lose ?

Chompy9760 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 09, 2021, 10:31:03 AM »

That's an interesting thought, and I can see merit in getting some moisture into the bat, but I'm thinking that the cellular structure of the wood must already be shot to pieces, and wonder if water would be able to reverse the damage?

As you say, not a lot to lose.

Really interesting to hear that a bat could lose 2 oz in a heated home! I recently bought a bat that weighed 1 oz lighter than the sticker said, so I guess it's possible it could lose that much weight in air conditioned showroom over summer.

Author Topic: Delamination - when do you give up? (Read 6197 times)

Chompy9760

Re: Delamination - when do you give up?

InternalTraining

Re: Delamination - when do you give up?

Mfarank

Re: Delamination - when do you give up?

procricket

Re: Delamination - when do you give up?

Chompy9760

Re: Delamination - when do you give up?

brokenbat

Re: Delamination - when do you give up?

Chompy9760

Re: Delamination - when do you give up?