Arguably the most important part of constructing a cricket bat is the blade as it makes up the majority of the bat. The blade is a wooden block that generally comes in a flat shape on the striking face and a ridge on the reverse with a somewhat concentration of wood to allow a strong hit off the ball by a player. While there are a few materials that can be used while making a cricket bat, willow seems to be the traditional wood to make cricket bats.
Constructing a bat yourself is not as difficult as it seems but it is not particularly easy. A key is getting the right ingredients in pace to make sure that you will make a bat that you will enjoy playing with and also winning games.
Materials
The first step into constructing your own cricket bat is getting the necessary materials. The materials you need are
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Willow Wood
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Scrap Iron
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Table Saw
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Band Saw
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Metal Clamps
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Rubber Strips
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Cane
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Wood Laminate
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Wood Plane
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Draw Knife
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Compound Wax
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Sand Paper
Step 1-Selecting The Wood
The first step in constructing your own cricket bat is to select the cut of wood you intend to use to make the bat. This is a very important step. Wood from an English Willow tree has been known to come with minor imperfections. However, these imperfections won't have any significant effect on the final result, Now the next step is to pre-cut the section of wood to be used in a workable size. The next step of this phase is to wax the wood on both ends while you waiting for the wood to dry. Make sure you give the wood enough time to dry as it is to prevent it from cracking or warping, which technically means all your effort wood be gone to waste.
Step 2-Cutting the wood
The second step to the process is cutting the wood into a basic shape of a cricket bat using a table saw. Make sure you are careful with the saw in your hand. While you are cutting the wood, make sure you note that the front part should have a raised peak that will roughly go halfway up the center. You should also note that the back of the bat is flat. The size of the bat is a very important feature of the cricket bat and the size is usually dependent on the height of the person that intends using it. Nevertheless, the average bat length ranges from 15 1/4 for small kids to 33 ½ for the tallest adults.
Step 3-Compression of the wood
The process of making a cricket bat gets more technical each step further it goes. The third step of constructing your bat will be compressing the wood. This will add strength to the willow fibers. The process will involve surrounding the piece of wood with flat pieces of iron scrap, which should be the same size as the blade of the bat. Later on, strong clamps are used to add pressure to the compression. It is recommended that you should try as much as possible to get close to 2000 pounds per square inch to ensure that the bat is strong as possible.
Step 4-Making the handle
The fourth step is to make the handle of the cricket bat. The handle is usually made with a rubber strap and a cane. The handle of the bat is very important as it determines how strong the swing of the bat will be. The handle should be as comfortable as possible on the grip. It's recommended to glue the rubber strips before laminating the entire piece. The lower part of your bat should be cut into a wedge shape which will be carved into the blade of the bat using a band saw. This process requires attention as you want to ensure the cut is accurate as possible. Once the carving is finished, stick it into place and make sure that the top part is a little bit extended above the front part of the blade. Leave the bat to dry overnight.
Step 5-Carving the Blade
The next step is where you use the drawknife mentioned in the ingredients. The knife is used to carve the blade for the cricket bat while making sure there is a perfect balance. It is recommended to leave the maximum wood behind in the striking position of the blade. This is necessary to make the bat stronger and more durable.
Step 6-Sanding the Bat
Step six of the process to construct your own cricket bat is to sand the cricket bat. Not all bats even the factory-made bats are made to perfection especially if it's your first time making your own bat. You are bound to find an uneven texture on your bat so it's important that you sand the cricket bat out using sandpaper. This will give your bat a smooth finish.
Step 7-Application of Wax
Once you are done with sanding out the cricket the next step will be the application of compound wax to the bat. This step is done to give the bat a lot more of an attractive look while also helping to ensure its ability.
There are no other step after waxing the bat. Now you can start using your custom made cricket to.