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[edge]

Nice work again Ed. Another bat, another ton? Best wishes for the new season.

Ha thanks Justin, hopeful for more this season but not with this one - it's off to someone else, so hopefully they get a few too.

@Chompy9760 sounds like you might be unfamiliar with butterfly stain - no knots here! Butterfly is a staining of the wood caused when the tree is pruned or branches crack off and some of the colouring from the bark leaks into the wood - looks a bit funny to some but makes bloody good bats. https://www.laverwood.com/laver-woods-cricket-bat-lore-ch-5-butterfly-willow/

[Chompy9760]

Not totally unfamiliar with butterfly, but obviously have plenty to learn!  Thanks for the link.  With a closer look I can see that the grains indeed go through the stain.

Sorry, I did not meed to imply that your bat had knots in it!  I remember reading on the JS Wright website that butterfly added to the strength of the bat, and was adding to it with my axe experiences.  Regrdless, I wouldn't be too proud to own that bat

[jonny77]

Great effort again @edge. Did you find the Butterfly willow different to work with? I remember in one of Aldreds videos he's says he prefers working with it.

[edge]

Great effort again @edge. Did you find the Butterfly willow different to work with? I remember in one of Aldreds videos he's says he prefers working with it.

I don't find it too different to be honest, other than it can be a bit harder around the stain so you need to pay extra attention there.

[edge]

Bat 007 ready for one of my clubmates, really pleased with the shape on this one. 2lb9.5 and just nips though the bat gauge.

[edge]

Been a while since I posted in here! Handed over a lovely grainy butterfly today, to a clubmate who wanted a slightly modified version of his old bat - nice long middle fading away at the toe to keep the pickup light, just a smidge over 2lb 8oz. Hopeful that at some stage this season I'll get to walk out as part of of opening pair both using my bats!

[Psi]

Looks great. Do you always play with your own bats? How do you find other makes compare?

Nice grains on that sofa too 😂

[Psi]

You and @northernmonkey make them with very straight toe but with more rounded corners than other makers. Is this for extra durability? Why don't other makers do this so often?

[jonny77]

Looks great mate 👍

[edge]

@Psi the majority of the time I use my own sticks yeah, the exception being a Puma I rebalanced that I usually carry as a spare, or if I fancy getting the Mongoose out! I'm obviously biased haha, but I prefer my own to mainstream brands - I get my part mades from the best suppliers I can so the performance isn't in doubt, and being able to shape them to your own preference is great.
Re. the toes, yeah it's durability - I like a flat toe, but round the corners so they're less susceptible to damage. Not a massive difference but prefer to to a traditional toe. Laver & Wood are the only well known brand who do them that way I think.

[edge]

Another for a clubmate, lovely straight grains on this cleft with a massive butterfly stain quite high on it. Nice and easy request this one - "I like the one you made for our opener, but I don't really like big edges and could you make it quite heavy". So it's a little more traditional than the last few I've made - convex back, fairly long flowy middle and sensible edge size. 2lb12, hopefully he'll be happy with it!

[Psi]

I like the underlying grain structure under the butterfly on that. Could you tell from the cleft that it would be like that or does that emerge during making?

[JB]

That looks lovely! Best it flies off of that

[edge]

I like the underlying grain structure under the butterfly on that. Could you tell from the cleft that it would be like that or does that emerge during making?

Little bit of both, you can always get a good idea from the cleft but it shows much better when finished.

[edge]

Rare combo of day off and sunny morning so made time for a refurb of the first bat I made, which had been looking a bit sorry for itself, plus some sanding work on a new weapon for me as I haven't made myself one in a while. Can't wait to get this one done!