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[RossViper]

I don't believe that hand hammering would make a decent bat, I'm not saying it is not possible, just that with the way the timber is compressed, doing it by hand will almost certainly leave dead spots on the bat where the willow hasn't been compressed correctly. plus the advantage of a roller is that it gives you different amounts of bow which can help the pick up and allows you to control the pressing process more efficiently.

I think you could shape the bow into the clef, so that would managed that bit of it?

I guess what I'm wondering is if the hardening for the surface of the wood would be better done by hand hammering, pressing is quite a heavy duty undertaking, and you might end up pressing more than you want depth wise. if you think about laminated bats, do they not press the front bit hard and the back bit soft/not at all... could you not try and "press" a normal cleft, so the compressed face was as thin and as "discreet" as possible...

agian, just a thought, not saying its possible or beneficial!

[Red Ink Cricket]

I've got 2 now I've designed and got made, but it is best to get hold of me in October when I'm less stressed but happy to help and point you in the right direction

You can hand hammer them you can feel the difference on the face of the bat so you'd be able to get a bit more consistency then you think.  Hand hammering can make for a better performing bat funnily enough!!!! Yep a roller will give you a bow but you'd get a natural bow after a while anyway like the good old days ;-)

Thanks norbs that would be good and Ross no I don't have any welding kit. Would need someone to help me with that one. Never even tried welding. Prob be able to get my hands on a lathe tho.

[Six Sixes Cricket]

Welding is easier than you may think. And you can hire the kit and gas quite cheaply too.

[Red Ink Cricket]

Well if someone's willing to give me the ideas of where to start I'm more than happy to attempt to build one and document how it goes on here

[dan_nichols]

A fella at my cricket club said whilst he was in the caribean he saw bats being pressed by someone digging a narrow channel into the ground, filling it with sand, resting the bat on it and driving over it with a road roller..... This sounds absolutely amazing. Would love to see it....

[hell4leather cricket]

I think you might over press it doing it that way ...

[Red Ink Cricket]

Yeah would last for ever! Prob not alot of rebound In it

[Six Sixes Cricket]

Well if someone's willing to give me the ideas of where to start I'm more than happy to attempt to build one and document how it goes on here

Wait until November and ask norbs for a cad drawing of one of his presses and your 50% there. My previous job was at a fabrication company so I have a few contacts if needed.

[Red Ink Cricket]

That would be great. Once I've spoken to norbs I may borrow your contacts.

[RossViper]

Welding is easier than you may think. And you can hire the kit and gas quite cheaply too.

thats not my issue, I can weld, mill and lathe, OK...ish, but getting all the kit you need is a bit of a trick, renting it is not cheap, there are things call "make spaces" which might be an option, but I've got nowhere to keep such a beast any road.

....

I'm not sure that getting someone else to make one is the same as making one yourself, you could just go and buy one form India for 1500-2000k (apparently), and would Norbs just give you the CAD's he's a generous chap, but that's a bit much, maybe?!

I have a design in mind, but I'm not sure it would work, and if you were building one yourself you would need to work out any issues as you went along - if you've not done much fabrication before it might become a bit intimidating!!!!

do you have any ideas in your head johners?

[Red Ink Cricket]

Yeah I do. Been looking at the various presses you see in images on bat makers sites and google search. Few ideas to play around with but would be based on something already in use. Seems to be 2 main styles, the Salix one and the more basic looking such as Bradbury etc use. Have a few ideas to modify them but don't know how good they would be.

[Howzat]

How about everyone posts any pics of any batmakers presses they can find on here