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[edge]

The skill of the batmaker is to make a bat pick-up lighter than its dead weight. A light  pick-up should never be regarded as a bad thing.  If your bat feels too light, get a heavier bat.

Nope nope nope nope. The skill is to make a bat pick up well, which is not the same as light. Any muppet can make a bat pick up light! The balance between weight in the middle, pickup feel and total dead weight is where a good bat-shaper earns their keep - you'll notice we're not all using Warner-shape super high middle heavy bats. A bat that picks up too light is a terrible thing, at the end of the day it's an implement for hitting things with. Imagine looking for a hammer with a lighter pickup...

Pressing? Best of the makers I've had a decent level of personal experience with are Aldred and Chase, B3 are also very good. All perform well and require minimal prep to get there which is really valuable I think. My impression of Keeley is that they press for consistency rather than ultimate performance - you never seem to see a bad one, but I've never tapped one up and thought 'wow'.

[Grubby]

Any pictures of the custom?

It's Velvetsky. He's bought and sold 200 bats since this one........

[velvetsky01]

Ha thanks @Grubby sadly you are right ha

There is a forum post on said bat however in the kippax section it was a belter

[Jimbo]

Pick up is not about skill, it is a matter of physics.  If you hold a weight in your hand close to you it feels lighter than if you hold it at full stretch because the further the distance from the point of axis, the greater the torque it exerts and therefore the greater the force required to stop the object dropping to the ground.  In both cases, the weight is exactly the same, but the effort needed to keep it up is considerably different.

In terms of Bats, the greater the proportion of the wood that is closer to the handle, the lighter the bat will pick up.  Bats with duck bill toes, offset edges and thick shoulders are going to pick up lighter because they are distributing wood higher up the blade.  That is fine if you want a bat with a high middle, but not if you want something with the wood lower down in the bat.

Seems like the skill is in balancing pickup, desired shape, performance, etc. Much easier to make a railway sleeper than a well balanced bat with good coverage that picks up well.