Hello Again, again

It has been a while…..  Anyways I’ve been asked a few times, what the heck is all this about moisture content of a cricket bat?

Well this one isn’t to complicated so no real need to hold onto you hats for this article!

Cricket bats and Moisture

There are a couple of schools of thought with regards to what level of moisture content should be left in the willow cleft when it is ready for the market!  The variation is around 2% and that is either 14% or 12%, I won’t go into who is right and whose wrong in my opinion as I don’t really have an opinion on it.  Yeah right I hear you say!  Well maybe you right but as I’m going to explain a bit about you can form your own views on it!

Here we go!

Having the willow at a certain moisture means the willow cleft has certain characteristics.  Oh please I hear you say this was going to simple…. Ok let me get this done quickly then!  Young Modulus there you go done, well almost!  Elasticity is what I’m talking about, within the moisture range specified above the elasticity of the willow will be in a range that is as good as known [normal caveats apply for an organic bit of wood]  This means you’ll get a cricket bat that should have the bending properties that have been around for years. 

Excellent that brings me onto bending strength, oh I see it is related to elasticity.  Yep it is as you’ve probably worked out the less elastic the willow is the less bendable the willow is!

Ok so what does that all mean for my cricket bat? 

It means that the less moisture content a cricket bat has the stiffer it will be, great I’ve read some your other articles and stiffness is good.  Yep it is but it is at a cost!!!!!  Why, because the life of the bat is reduced because you have what in effect is a brittle bat.  Yep you have a bigger bat as less moisture means a lighter cleft and yep you have a bat that better goes from the outset but it will die alot quicker possibly only giving you only a few hundred runs!  It is better to get that stiffness through the bat makers ability in making and pressing a cleft then artificially from over dried willow

Well there you go, I hope you found that one useful

Andy
Podshaver for San Andreas Fault Cricket Bats
Handmade Cricket Bats

Have a Cricket Bat related question email me

Hello again

I thought I’d write a bit about the differences between English Willow and Kashmir Willow!

In England the willow trees that are supplied by JS Wright / Anglian willow etc are specially grown for bats only and anything left is used as timber

While in Kashmir the willow trees are of multi purpose with clefts for bats as an option. Additionally English manufacturers grade the willow and then the cleft.

Below is a picture from JS Wrights Grading there clefts Worlds Largest English Cricket Bat Willow suppliers

There isn’t a huge grading system in Kashmir so a good bat cleft could end up in a fruit crate or a fruit crate grade willow end up in a bat. With English willow the raw material is very unlikely to end up as ply wood.

As you can see from the differences in planting.

Kashmir Willow Tree planting

UK Cricket Bat Willow planation
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Additionally due to the Kashmiri government blocking transportation of Kashmir willow, this happened a while ago, some manufactuers have either moved to that region or stock pile and get what they can.

Saying that you do see pic’s of huge piles of clefts everywhere really.

These stocks are fairly huge and left out there to face the elements and generally these clefts are not waxed ended and subsequently have higher mositure content and prone to cracking

Kashmir Cleft Stock Piles

Other interesting pictures relating to Kashmir and Cricket Bats

By the way EWNI - English Willow Nurtured in India is Kashmir Willow

Andy
Podshaver for San Andreas Fault Cricket Bats
Handmade Cricket Bats

Have a Cricket Bat related question email me

Some tools used to make Cricket Bats

Drawknife

The drawknife is used to remove mass from the cleft for the initial part of the shaping of the cricket bat. The knife is drawn towards you and you can either take a thick or thin shaving out of the willow.

It is a very versatile tool and can be very precise but also very dangerous!!!!

Travishers

The travisher is used for creating concave shapes in the back of the cricket bat. You can yet various different radi of travisher. In the picture you can see a No4 and No5 travisher, the larger the number the more curved the concave is that it creates. Also in the bottom corner you’ll see a couple of Spokeshaves these are used to shape the shoulders and the handle of the cricket bat but can be used anywhere on the cleft. [A drawknife can also be used for shaping the shoulders and the handle of the cricket bat]

Planes and stuff

In the picture below you can see two wooden planes. The one in the far end is a round bottom plane, this is used for concave shaping the back of the cricket bat. It is in fact a pattern plane and the wooden bottom [plate] and cutting blades can be changed to get different shapes. The one closet to you is a normal flat bottom plane used on the front, back and sides of the cricket bat. Wooden planes are used because they are in general lighter and therefore your arm aches less after shaping a few cricket bats.

You will also see a Clifton Spokeshave used for concaving and other bits of general shaping on the cricket bat and a good sturdy vice with soft jaws to hold the cricket bat willow whilst working on it.

Final Overview

To give you an idea if you are thinking of making your own cricket bay a quick list of things….

- Something to shape shoulders and handle if required [spokeshave,rasp / subform / careful use of draw knife]
- Something to sharpen tools with [you'll see some EZE-Lap files in yellow packet on the second picture]
- Good vice & soft jaws [protective vice jaw things]
- A good sturdy bench - when you start shaving with your draw knife the bench will move
- Sanding solution [hand sanding / power sanding / how are you going to sand the concaved back without pneumatic sanding drums]
- Sandpaper various grades to suit solution
- Binding material [& possibly how you are going to do it, you can hand bind]
- Something to shape shoulders and handle if required [rasp / subform / careful use of draw knife]
- Something to sharpen tools with
- Good vice & protective vice jaw [thingys]
- A good sturdy bench - when you start shaving with your draw knife the bench will move
- Sanding solution [hand sanding / power sanding / how are you going to sand the concave without pneumatic sanding drums]
- Sandpaper various grades to suit solution
- Binding material [& possibly how you are going to do it, you can hand bind]
- Grips
- Some soft lead pencils if following lines [an eraser :-)]
- A few lint free cloths for oiling
- An idea of what weight of bat you are going to make
- Cricket bat grips
- A few lint free cloths for oiling
- An idea of what weight of bat you are going to make

Andy
Podshaver for San Andreas Fault Cricket Bats
Handmade Cricket Bats

Have a Cricket Bat related question email me