Hi all,
Over the last 3/4 years, my activity on the forum has been a little limited to say the least. I have enjoyed posting more recently, so I thought now would be a good time to get a refurbishment topic going, posting photos of some of the bats I work on. Most of these bats form will part of my personal collection, with each of the finished bats being individually boxed up.
I hope you find this topic enjoyable, and if not, there will be plenty of photos of bats (and who doesn't like bat photos?!).
Bat 1 - Woodworm Premier WandThe first bat that I have been working on this year is a Woodworm Premier Wand, one from my personal collection.
I contacted Woodworm before starting this bat to see if they had any retro stickers laying around, which they did not, so I was conscious that I needed to do all I can to keep the stickers in the best possible condition.
The bat wasn't in bad condition for it's age, with no real damage but there was some heavy oil stains, a large amount of mud on the toe and a low quality clear scuff sheet applied that, when removed, left a huge amount of residue. Using 'Sticky Stuff Remover' and a blunt drawknife, I was able to get the majority of the residue off of the bat with the stickers still in tact. Sanding then began, using my trusty drill mounted drum sander. After a few minutes, the bigger willow areas had been taken back to 'white wood'
Once the initial sand had been done, it was then onto hand sanding, starting with 180 grit sandpaper to work in the fiddly areas and getting the rest of the bat ready for the finer sanding process. This included going around the stickers and working on the shoulders. Fine sanding is all done by hand and will see me work through grit 240, 400, 600 and 1000 grit sandpaper.
The final piece of work that takes in the workshop is the polishing. Using a high power drill and a mop, I use a hyfin polish to complete the refurbishment. A new black chevron grip was also applied.
Frustratingly, the photos do not do this bat justice, but I am pleased that I have been able to revive a legendary bat to its former glory. This one is going to be boxed up and put aside, ready to go into my new cricket bat rack (w.i.p.). I hope you all enjoy the finished product:
What's Next?I have completed a full refurbishment on 2 x Gunn & Moore Diamond Bats today, 1 x 808 L540 & 1 x Original L555, both of which I managed to pick up off eBay earlier in the month. They have been completely stripped down to plain and are going back to GM tomorrow, each to be given a new set of Diamond labels, but I will post some process photos of these two bats in the next couple of days.
I also have a 2005 Gunn & Moore Maxi Original arriving on Tuesday, so that will no doubt form part of a future post!
Enjoy
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Topic: Craig's 2021 Refurbishments (Read 3121 times)