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[Kal]

Would this be useful for a bat that is ridiculously hard pressed? Ie would this eventually "open the bat up"?

[Chad]

Would this be useful for a bat that is ridiculously hard pressed? Ie would this eventually "open the bat up"?

I dunno, feels wrong to knock in a bat purely to 'open it up'. I think netting with it is more effective, as this will loosen the glue in the handle, which will make the bat vibrate less, and essentially make the bat feel better on a whole. If a bat is a dud, no amount of knocking is really going to make it any better. You may as well get as much value for money as you can out of a firmer pressed bat and use it in the nets when you've had it prepared properly. One thing I've found is that if you face a new ball with a GM, it makes a cracking sound!

I think that there was an article which was talking about how older bats which were slightly firmer pressed took a while to delaminate, but was worth the playing in as it showed that the bat was at its very peak. (I think it may have been Ramprakash talking on bats) Many professionals also like it when the handle is just about to go, which is when the bat feels like it performs the best.

[TBONTB]

I tell you what, this machine would pay for itself pretty quick. At their price roughly being 2000 GBP, 20 quid a bat would pay back pretty fast, not including LHP etc. If I did not live in a London flat I would buy the machine and undercut the market...... if only...

[Shortpitch]

Here in USA, a store is charging between 50 & 90 dollars for knocking using this machine..... tempted at first then thought, its off season would take my own time to knock the new Aldred which i got couple of months back......but bigger question would be how long you should be knocking the bat on the machine?

[jwebber86]

Is this the same machine hammer cricket got recently I saw a video of theirs

[ItsJustCricket]

Paul I will answer your question once the machine arrives and has been
 commissioned.
Imran my intention is to be knocking in bats all day wether they are mine or a 3rd parties

Please do, Gary.  I have spoken to a couple of people who have got them and they said that it couldn't be done on theirs.  Just curious if knocking-in machines may have moved on. 

We probably spend more time on the edges than any other part of the bat when knocking-in bats, so if a machine can't save us from the majority of our work when doing the job, I doubt we would ever invest in one...

[GDP1964]

Andy I have spoken to 5 different people and the feed back was that they feel the machine was beneficial to there Buisness B&S are purchasing this machine to better there product and provide a service to others who don't have the time to prepare their gear. I am not trying to sell these machines we are only purchasing one .

[GDP1964]

I do believe hammer have purchased one although I can't confirm it

[Number4]

If it's good enough for Paul Bradbury then it's good enough for me

[ItsJustCricket]

Andy I have spoken to 5 different people and the feed back was that they feel the machine was beneficial to there Buisness B&S are purchasing this machine to better there product and provide a service to others who don't have the time to prepare their gear. I am not trying to sell these machines we are only purchasing one .

I understand that, Gary, and I think it's better to provide this service than no service, but in my opinion it isn't a complete knocking-in service if it can't round the edges! Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable in taking a customer's money for a knocking-in service, handing them the bat when done and telling them: "it still needs an hour on he edges - did you want to buy a mallet to do that yourself?"

[tushar sehgal]

I understand that, Gary, and I think it's better to provide this service than no service, but in my opinion it isn't a complete knocking-in service if it can't round the edges! Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable in taking a customer's money for a knocking-in service, handing them the bat when done and telling them: "it still needs an hour on he edges - did you want to buy a mallet to do that yourself?"

You could always round the edges Paul before you put a bat on the machine, would still be quicker..

[Uzi Sports]

The edges and toe are the weaker point of the bat and we spend more time knocking those areas than the middle

[imran75]

So would it still not be quicker to use the machine for the face of the bat and then use the mallet for the edges? Might take a bit longer than using the machine for everything but it's still an improvement on doing it all by hand.

[TangoWhiskey]

I want to see a video of this machine in action. The only ones I can find have been recorded on a potato.

[The Palmist]

IJC raises a very valid point. I am sure BS would have thought about it also and may be already plan to do the rounding edge bit manually. It doesn't have to be 100% machine knocked it.

As long as the bats are getting fully knocked in.