Yikes, has been a long time since I've updated this - still dabbling away at some bats, but I think I went through a phase of having numerous unfinished bats floating around. I also stopped numbering them and being organised.
But here's an attempt to copy a H4L shape that I really quite like. I have a tendency to use the heavier clefts first, so this one is quite the brute, weighing in at just under 3lb bound with a heavier grip. (2oz grip)
Bat number 20 ish?
Profile template - H4L mid with minimal concaving
Weight and grip with binding - 2lb 15 3/4oz
Weight of template - Approx 2lb 10oz
Grade of willow - 3
Notable features - Quite a clean piece, but with a knot at the toe, and also some blemishes higher up the blade on the back of RH inside half. There's a blemish pretty much just above the sweetspot, which makes a lovely crack when tapping up, so should be ab absolute gun. Definitely not the easiest piece to work with, especially after a fairly lengthy break from shaping, but overall think I made the correct decision by leaving a fair chunk of the shaping for the sander to deal with.
Learning Aims:- Get used to the drum sander a little more
- Really take my time with the sanding and finishing
- Treat it as a therapeutic release
- Improve shoulder blend/sanding
- Try out new lathe
Post Rough Shape and then post sand:
Compared with the H4L:
Blank and without stickers:
Lastly - with some lovely Pryzm Pure stickers:
General feelings:
All in all, quite happy with this attempt - I didn't actually do much concaving using tools, but actually did the majority of it using the drum sander. The bat itself picks up quite nicely to me, one where it doesn't feel its weight, but again, you could it isn't a light bat. I think I chose the right style of profile with this particular piece, especially to try enhance what the blemish in the wood offers, and made the right decision to just make a heavy bat from a heavy cleft. Managed to keep the edge at around 40mm (39.5mm on my calipers), and the spine at 63-64mm, and very elongated. I also think the sticker selection was just about spot on, the white background and blue compliment the sapwood very nicely.
Things to improve on:- I'm still not too happy on some aspects of the finishing - the toe is a bit untidy, with the line not being clean
- I make some small slip ups on the drum sander by going too far - this was particularly annoying to me as it was something that batmakers had told me that they make sure they don't do when sanding, as the sander just catches the corner and pulls the bat in
- Shoulder blend sanding wasn't too great...
- The bat spun out of the lathe, so have to make sure to keep it in tighter next time, and maybe avoid finishing the toe until after the binding to try minimise the bore that is visible from the tailstock.
- Profile selection - this particular part made didn't have much bow in it at all, while the template bat did. This does mean that the copy looks a bit off, but I guess just a minor thing in the end. But certain parts flow better and are more accentuated with the presence of a bow, and hopefully this shows the kind of optical illusion a bow can have.
Author
Topic: Chad's Batmaking Thread (The first Bat Shaper in Scotland?!) (Read 30321 times)