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[Howzat]

a custom made bat is where you can specify the amount of pressing you require.

Sorry to be argumentative but... why would you require a different amount of pressing. The person pressing the willow surely has the best idea as each willow cleft has an optimum level of pressing.

[slogger02]

im not quite sure why you would want to specify the amount of pressing you give your bat?  each cleft has an optimum pressing point if you like, a good 'presser' will achieve this level.
leo beat me to it!

[procricket]

without doubt the best topic i have herd on here

[procricket]

I think the question is why would you want to do this?! Due to the way they dry their willow your obviously going to get more larger bats.

hate to say this but look at my ss ton plain grade 1 2lb 6oz 35mm edges crafted as well as my Laver in my eyes

[Watsontotty]

Different people have different ideas of how much or how little a bat is pressed ? that's also true of the bat makers themselves so its a very valid point in bat making. I'm sure we all know some makers press the bats so that they are extra durable and they take longer to knock in and it cuts down the number of returns a bat pressed too much can ruin a bat as can a bat not pressed enough but what the pros would want in terms of pressing wont be what i want.

[hit4six]

I can understand your point slogger and leo, but lets take a company like Hawk. They are renowned for over pressing there bats, so they last longer, but they take longer to reach their optimum performance level.

So the way I see it, the customer is always right, so if they want a lightly pressed cleft, then they can have it. Thats the idea of a custom made bat!!!

[Watsontotty]

So the way I see it, the customer is always right, so if they want a lightly pressed cleft, then they can have it. Thats the idea of a custom made bat!!!
[/quote]

I have to say i agree.

[slogger02]

fair enough, but as said before it is not easy to request a pressing level as settings will have to be changed and any particular cleft may not be suitable for that pressing requirements (ie clefts crack under pressing) so limiting options on grain structure.  you would not get a pressing option in india either so no one in the world can offer a truely custom made bat?
it would be good if this option were available but no one offers it and no one will either.

[hit4six]

Slogger, again, not trying to be argumentative, but lets go back to Hawk. When I phoned up last year, they said all their bats were pressed to the same amount to ensure the same sort of playability. Surely if this was true, Hawk would have 100's of unused and worthless clefts laying around.

[golden_duck]

thats a very very good point !

[hit4six]

I mean, I could well be wrong about Hawk, and as I have never seen their process, I could not really comment, but it makes you think if sloggers point is true, surely Hawk are losing more money than they are making due to the lack of useable and sellable clefts?

[slogger02]

no they would only have a few duff ones if they were all pressed to the same level.  the cracks usually only happen on the largest, lightest ones, pro bats in generall so perhaps that line of my argument was floored!

[procricket]

hawk have changed though recently the bats i have seen coming out of bellbroughton have lost that over cooked look they used to i know they did some sort of boiling to there bats which apparently they dont do any-more

[slogger02]

all im suggesting is if your including pressing as part of the custom made bat experience not one company is going to do this for you.

[hit4six]

I wasnt really sure on that part of this discussion. I know a bit about the manufacture of cricket bats, however, the pressing is something I have never looked into, so I was going in a bit blind on the last few comments. But I am glad I understand that now.

This topic (I hope) is making people think about what they are actually getting for their money. Just a finished cleft or a custom made bat (like advertised by most companies)!