Now, I am not good with wood (and even then I own no tools other than a drill and a basic Wilko tool box), but I have a very talented woodworker of a Father-in-Law. He has a bunch of Victorian planes and a spokeshave that belonged to his Grandfather, a master cabinet maker. He doesn't play cricket, nor is he interested in it past the fact that he knows I muddle through a season like a brainless Brearley.
He does, however, like a challenge.
With this is mind I had a punt on one of Peplow's clearance clefts for a small fee that wouldn't end my world if it all went wrong. I then broached the idea with Patrick (FiL) and he jumped at the idea - he asked to borrow a bat for a reference and I gave him my Paradox LE and a load of links to Laver/J Millichamp and other batmaking videos, as well as Beachy's blog (which received high praise). He said that the most useful videos were ones from factories in India, which is interesting.
He came to dinner yesterday and brought the work in progress with him. I couldn't believe it... I'd love to hear your thoughts, please bear in mind this is the first attempt he's ever done (weight at the moment is 1158 grams) so be kind:
Picks up okay, and the rebound is good out of the middle.
The finished bat: 2lb 12oz with snake grip and antiscuff
Overall, it's a great effort - the pickup is good and the rebound is okay - will surely open up with some knocking in.Thanks for looking.
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Topic: I bought an ugly cleft from Sam... (Read 5499 times)