Topic: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices? (Read 3068 times)

ppccopener · « **Reply #30 on:** February 08, 2024, 03:07:02 PM »

Good photos @Chad its an interesting slight change in bat pricing which whether it�s the storms in India a few years ago to brexit to inflation or anything else that has doubled willow and associated costs in the last few years.

With bat grading varying depending on who you speak to my own view is this will catch on elsewhere and we may end up with

Grade 1. Finished/polished/fine sanded and looking great to the eye.

Grade 2/3/4. Unfinished final polishing/fine sanded.

Of course, some bat makers may not want to do that and that�s fine, if I spent a day making a bat I would want it to look great.

But this type of thing does give an option to us consumers, and the bats being graded on performance is a very grey area indeed.

If a bat is made and pressed properly to chances of it being dead and very very small indeed I would say.

jonny77 · « **Reply #31 on:** February 08, 2024, 03:26:12 PM »

Quote from: ppccopener on February 08, 2024, 03:07:02 PM

Good photos @Chad its an interesting slight change in bat pricing which whether it�s the storms in India a few years ago to brexit to inflation or anything else that has doubled willow and associated costs in the last few years.

With bat grading varying depending on who you speak to my own view is this will catch on elsewhere and we may end up with

Grade 1. Finished/polished/fine sanded and looking great to the eye.

Grade 2/3/4. Unfinished final polishing/fine sanded.

Of course, some bat makers may not want to do that and that�s fine, if I spent a day making a bat I would want it to look great.

But this type of thing does give an option to us consumers, and the bats being graded on performance is a very grey area indeed.

If a bat is made and pressed properly to chances of it being dead and very very small indeed I would say.

Are you saying that batmakers will grade on finishing? Or that they'll maybe just finish G1s to a finer finish? Some of bats from the main brands I saw on a visit to a local retailer recently were not all exactly finished to a high shine anyway.

I'd be happy not finishing to a polished shine, but my point was it wouldn't reduce costs by that much. Can't speak for everyone, but achieving a good finish isn't hugely time consuming in the grand scheme of things and labour/materials/power/machinery to achieve it doesn't come to �200 in each bat, for me at least.

ppccopener · « **Reply #32 on:** February 08, 2024, 03:42:41 PM »

Quote from: jonny77 on February 08, 2024, 03:26:12 PM

Are you saying that batmakers will grade on finishing? Or that they'll maybe just finish G1s to a finer finish? Some of bats from the main brands I saw on a visit to a local retailer recently were not all exactly finished to a high shine anyway.

I'd be happy not finishing to a polished shine, but my point was it wouldn't reduce costs by that much. Can't speak for everyone, but achieving a good finish isn't hugely time consuming in the grand scheme of things and labour/materials/power/machinery to achieve it doesn't come to �200 in each bat, for me at least.

I don�t think a lot of us know exactly how much of the process would be cut out. We can guess and it probably varies from company to company.

What I�m saying is should this catch on with others, and we don�t know if it will or it�s a one off then it might be an option to put a dent in ever growing costs for bat buyers.

Of course there are already options on lower grades available, we know that.

Do I think it is possible a bat finished to a fantastic standard may be grade 1, a rough finish bat at a lower grade�yes it might be possible.

This whole thread is designed to see if are any options that might and I say again might be possible in the future.

I am not saying people who do this for a living should all change their practises, but it may be adopted going forward.

If there are no ideas prices may not stop going up.

Personally an unfinished bat which is cheaper than than a glossy one appeals to me. A few nets and they all look the same.

I will emphasise thou we don�t know the exact finishing process.

Thamesvalley · « **Reply #33 on:** February 08, 2024, 04:06:49 PM »

I don�t think it will make any change to other bat makers as Johnny has said

Other maker big or small the finish varies so much

Salix are known for beaming finish �

Most others apart from one well known Indian supplier aren�t that great

MichaelM · « **Reply #34 on:** February 08, 2024, 06:39:56 PM »

Quote from: Chad on February 07, 2024, 10:00:06 PM

Right, so there was some sunshine here today, and figured I'd probably try shed some light on the differences...

Hopefully this highlights the difference, at least visually a bit better. The Salix and ACID standard finish seems to suggest that they'll have a very similar, if not identical finishing process. The thing to note about the Salix finish is that it's not necessarily the gloss mirror sheen that makes it the best on the market, but the way the shapes generally blend and the smoothness of the lines/swoops. The Rugged does not seem to sacrifice this aspect.

Now, onto a side to side comparison with a Knife Finite:

At this point, you might say - But Chad, they're just going to sell you G2 bats upgraded to G1 and use less work to justify the charging of a G2 price, etc etc etc. Well, lucky for you guys, this is a rather pricey experiment, so let's have a look and see...

I guess looking at this, Salix do seem to be fairly consistent in their grading - perhaps you could argue that the ACID Pro has that strange blemish/knot in the inside edge, or that you expect a Finite to have more than 7 grains, the G2 looks a bit more like a G1 etc, but I do think that the grading has some sort of consistency across this relatively small sample. In the end, grading is at the discretion of the maker, and I don't think Kember will have been in business this long if he was known to grade unfairly. The particular Rugged does look in the same league with the other G1s in my view.

If I had to sum up the differences, I guess the standard Salix finish gives off more of a flashy gleam, a very much prestigious product, whereas the Rugged Salix finish gives off more of a warm nostalgic glow, and the smell of linseed does evoke some fond memories. The area which both excel are in the quality of the workmanship, and the general quality control of ensuring the bats perform. Salix have never really been about HUGE large volume bats, but have always stood out with their classy look and satisfied customer base.

Is it worth it? I really couldn't say - I have no idea how long these additional processes take etc with regards to their final sanding/finishing process steps. Personally, tonnes of fine sanding and polishing will really have no effect on the function of the bat, which is to feel right in the hands, withstand the striking of some hard leather and score some runs.

PS. Apologies, I probably should have posted this on a new thread!

Great bats, beautifully written post,
Guess you'll never say which bat you're planning on to use this summer.

procricket · « **Reply #35 on:** February 08, 2024, 07:05:40 PM »

None of them is my thoughts lovely looking bats though

TheCricketStore · « **Reply #36 on:** February 11, 2024, 09:08:42 PM »

Quote from: Chad on January 27, 2024, 12:07:53 AM

I think they'd need to be VAT registered to do so, so if they aren't, it'll be slightly more complicated than tweaking a few settings on a website 😅

Thank you Chad, haha yes it'll take a bit more implementation on our back end but we're working on it. Unfortunately at present, we don't offer international shipping thus the reason we don't do this at present but we are working on this and should have international shipping ready by end of March.

Author Topic: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices? (Read 3068 times)

ppccopener

Re: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices?

jonny77

Re: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices?

ppccopener

Re: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices?

Thamesvalley

Re: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices?

MichaelM

Re: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices?

procricket

Re: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices?

TheCricketStore

Re: Salix knife (rugged) a blip or change on bat prices?