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[procricket]

Which part do you  find the trickiest Paul

[e4sby]

Cracking video Paul, brings back memories of shaping when I bodged a few myself.

How long does it take to press, handle and shape shoulders?

What's the mallet you use when tapping the bat at pressing?

The hardest part I found was getting both edges identical. Was a case of measuring and marking constantly. You make it look too easy.

Looking for an apprentice?

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Which part do you  find the trickiest Paul

Pressing each cleft to get the best out of it is tricky in itself as its a fine margin I reckon as every piece needs pressing differently and shaping the toes to get the pick up right because every piece of willow will need shaping slightly differently according to the particular clefts natural make up and feel. So making the pick up right without making the toe too thin and ruining the bat I find probably one of the trickiest parts. But I try and take each process one stage at a time and be methodical about it. I just enjoy making a bat from just a blank cleft into a finished item, it would be easier and quicker to use pre shaped I suppose but that isn't what I want to do I really enjoy the full process, the next thing will be making the handles too if possible.

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Cracking video Paul, brings back memories of shaping when I bodged a few myself.

How long does it take to press, handle and shape shoulders?

What's the mallet you use when tapping the bat at pressing?

The hardest part I found was getting both edges identical. Was a case of measuring and marking constantly. You make it look too easy.






Good question not really timed it properly to be fair I suppose I should to be totally efficient, but I reckon the first part of pressing takes around 15 mins at a guess after cleaning them up and putting the profile on to fit the press roller then handling maybe 30 mins -45 perhaps including putting the shoulders in and glueing then they are pressed again which is to feel so each one takes a different amount of time. Then I oil the faces and leave them for a day before I start shaping then they are oiled again in between final standings.

[fasteddie]

This may sound odd, but do you wear a face mask when sanding?

Obvious protection from breathing in the fine dust particles.

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

I do as a general rule yes. The bit where I am running the shoulders on the small sander looks really dusty but it's not that bad as there is a extraction just below it the cam was set directly behind the drum there. Hand sanding I have a machine that pipes the fine dust away which is brilliant and just about takes the lot away it's a great machine.  Generally too I have the big door open at the end which gives even more ventilation so it's all pretty good. Looks worse on the video actually.

[TangoWhiskey]

Video is completely silent for me.

On a side note, do you offer a 'bat making experience'? As in so someone could come and watch the whole process from start to finish and shave a few strokes off it?

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Video is completely silent for me.

On a side note, do you offer a 'bat making experience'? As in so someone could come and watch the whole process from start to finish and shave a few strokes off it?

Yes youtube have taken the music off unfortunately and I can't be bothered with spending ages trying to get something new on. Yes you can come and visit and pick your cleft out and be there for the shaping. Once it's shaped you leave it with me as it will sit for a couple of days having been oiled and then it has its final sanding and polish then it is posted out to you or ready to collect if you are more local.

[brokenbat]

i noticed there was tiny gap between the bottom of the handle and the splice.. how do you end up closing that gap? just hammer it down?
also, I have heard that if one gets too aggressive with jamming the handle down, it can create micro fractures in the shoulder area, that eventually lead to breaks. any truth to this?

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Yes sometimes you get a very small gap there. It's not detrimental to the performance of the bat in any way. I fact I can remember having my old sponsored gray nicholls and having repairs on them and they had gaps just the same. It is a judgement call as I fit the handle. They are such a tight fit that the call is do I leave it as it is because it is just such a good fit or take more off it so that it. If you hammer it in too tight then you can split the bat as it is literally pushing the willow apart. So for me I would rather just a very slight gap and perfect fit than fiddle around with it and spoil it. Does that make sense in a garbled way

[Alvaro]

Yes

[brokenbat]

It does. Also curious if anyone has ever tried a different way of attaching the handle? Instead of the current method, what would happen if the handle is inserted into a hole carved into the shoulder area. Like a triangular peg, slotting in, such that the bottom of the handle is completely surrounded by the wood of the bat.. not sure i made much sense there, but just curious.

[Kulli]

That's basically what the Newberry C6 handles were wasn't it, except they were done with a carbon fiver rod doing that job, i think it if was just wood then the stress would snap it.

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Well that was a busy Saturday!

[rbblack]

Looks like it was a long day too! Lots of hours to get all that lot coming along.
How long per bat do you think you spend making it from start to finish? (sorry if I've missed this being asked elsewhere).