I don't think that it really downgrades the skills of a podshaver. If I want a shape exactly to a specific dimension, and it happens to be of a shape of a bat made by a machine, then I will go for that bat, assuming it feels good in the hands. If I want something a little more specific, with a specific swell position and pickup and amount of concaving, then I would go to a podshaver.
The great thing about having a podshaver make your bat is that they understand the wood, how each cleft is different, and can adjust the wood taken off at specific areas. They also take into consideration your handle preference, how to best shape that to achieve the balance you want, and also select which cleft they feel would work best for what you want.
The thing is, a machine doesn't know the properties of the willow, etc etc. The person behind the cleft selection may, so will be able to choose the right cleft for that specific shape. However, they all look the same and feel slightly different, and they should, as we may like the same shape, but like different feels.
All in all, what I'm trying to say is that both do produce a good product in the end, you can get some duds from a machine or podshaver. For me, I feel that a podshaver offers adjustments based of feel and pickup, and generally does it right. You always give a bat to a podshaver to adjust the weight of, you never really put it back into a machine as it is a hassle to readjust the CNC to do the re-adjustment, but also because a podshaver has the skill and knowledge to know exactly where to take the wood off to achieve that rebalance, and can test the pick up him/herself throughout the process.
I think that we need both, as batmakers cannot make enough bats to supply all the players in the world. (Unless there are HUGE numbers of podshavers that I don't know about) The demand for handmade bats has dropped significantly from what I have heard, and that is mostly because all the players are sponsored by companies that have their bats machine made. This does not downgrade the skills of a batmaker, but I think that the effect it has is that most people don't really care much about who makes their bats, and don't really know the whole process. They just know it is used by so and so, who seems to get on well with it and "I like how they bat, so I will get that."
In the end, if it works, do you really need to know where it has come from?
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Topic: machine made bats ???? (Read 3425 times)