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[Aldred Cricket Bats]

This is what all truely handmade bats are about.
It is certainly what all our kit has been made from







Not From




It's all about what you want

[PedalsMcgrew]

Love it! 

This should be a sticky!

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Thanks thought it was a good way of putting a point over and pointing out the heart and soul that goes into it not the soulless production of thousands on a machine or shipped over in containers back to the country the wood grew in. Support British industry and craftsmanship particularly in the current financial climate.

[PedalsMcgrew]

Agreed!

I hate the fact that so many in this country don't value the skills of true craftsman...in any industry not just batmaking.

[Perkins17]

but don't you need the first two for the second two to work?

[Beachcricket]

but don't you need the first two for the second two to work?

Do you mind expanding on that ever so slightly, I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

[PedalsMcgrew]

but don't you need the first two for the second two to work?

Well, you need a brain to programme the computer and you need a heart in order to live long enough to programme it but that's all and it's not really the point is it?

[trypewriter]

I think Tushar made a good point in the original thread. The machine makes a bat to a size, but doing it by hand a man can make a bat to a given weight by adjusting the size. I don't know how a machine could make the adjustments to a bat to alter middle position, or improve balance and pick up - unless that is where 'hand finishing' comes in (though in my cynical way I'd thought hand finishing was just the application of stickers...)

[tushar sehgal]

Also gotta say that being a techy I would say there is a lot of brain and passion/soul that goes into making a machine & writing code and then making that work & work well

[kouservice]

Thanks thought it was a good way of putting a point over and pointing out the heart and soul that goes into it not the soulless production of thousands on a machine or shipped over in containers back to the country the wood grew in. Support British industry and craftsmanship particularly in the current financial climate.

I dont understand , " Soulless production .... or Shipped over ... wood grew in ".   Do you mean to say that only british craftsman have the heart and soul to make a cricket bat.
I respect craftsmanship, but it is not assigned to  any location or person. If you have so much of a problem than stop exporting clefts.

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Agreed tushar but can the machine be tactile and check at every stage on how the wood is shaping and look at the way the grains run and how the natural faults lie in the wood to enable it to be able to readjust the way it's producing that particular piece of willow so it can obtain the optimum out of each and every piece of willow it puts out. But I agree it does have the ability to churn out 500 bats a day rather that 5. I need to work quicker I think 

[Dan W]

I dont understand , " Soulless production .... or Shipped over ... wood grew in ".   Do you mean to say that only british craftsman have the heart and soul to make a cricket bat.
I respect craftsmanship, but it is not assigned to  any location or person. If you have so much of a problem than stop exporting clefts.

It's a call to use local, home grown craftsmanship (and pay a proper wage for it), as opposed to paying an individual peanuts and a freight company and middleman lots.

Tbh I'm amazed anyone can run a company and make (shape) individual bats fully by hand. It's a great USP (groan) Aldred have by having the same person from start to finish to deal with, all in this country (I get there's others that do it too, of course).

[kouservice]

Agreed tushar but can the machine be tactile and check at every stage on how the wood is shaping and look at the way the grains run and how the natural faults lie in the wood to enable it to be able to readjust the way it's producing that particular piece of willow so it can obtain the optimum out of each and every piece of willow it puts out. But I agree it does have the ability to churn out 500 bats a day rather that 5. I need to work quicker I think 

Just a thought, why cant we design a sensor to check the grains and any natural faults in the wood. Then we can design a machine to sort the clefts accordingly and send it to the cnc machine.  Anyone attempted to design it ?

But I support handmade cricket bats, as you cant substitute the human touch,care and love a craftsman puts in his work. Once a famous italian chef quoted, " I would prefer to eat plain vegetables cooked with love and affection in a small hut, rather than have a grand dinner in a 5 star hotel ". That goes for anything.

[kouservice]

It's a call to use local, home grown craftsmanship (and pay a proper wage for it), as opposed to paying an individual peanuts and a freight company and middleman lots.

Tbh I'm amazed anyone can run a company and make (shape) individual bats fully by hand. It's a great USP (groan) Aldred have by having the same person from start to finish to deal with, all in this country (I get there's others that do it too, of course).

I agree that anyone cannot run or produce a quality cricket bat which a passionate podshaver can do.  But that podshaver necessarily be from a specific region is not true.

Also I think when you import from other countries, your country gets the duties and customs which inturn help the economy.

[tim2000s]

I'd argue that SS's head podshaver puts as much heart and soul into the bats that he makes as Paul does. Just because the raw material isn't available in India, he must import it.