So… I got stuck into making another bat. I had good look at as many pictures of Screaming Cat bats as I could and decided that there were 3 things that were always apparent in whatever shape. They were… understated edges, soft curves, and limited concaving. Luckily the customer wanted no concaving if possible so that was one box ticked.

Ready… Steady… GO!

That rough sawn section of willow on top is getting smaller and smaller but that’s okay. I kept clear of it for as long as I could.

With much of the bulk removed, a shape starts to emerge.

Despite the spokeshave making an appearance in the bottom right corner, I barely used it until I got to the fine tuning part of the shaping.

The swell slowly moved up the blade as you will see in subsequent pictures.

In the above photo, hopefully you can see and difference in colour or shadow on the bat. This is partly due to where the light comes in but is mainly a result of how the light hits the bat’s shape. It gives me a quick guide so I can adjust my cuts and see where the swell of the middle is at its highest.

The small adjustments continue…

… until we reach a bat shape.

The bat, in its above state, was down to the weight I needed which left me with the finishing and binding to do. Whoever says, “You lose an ounce or more during final sanding” is either leaving themselves a very rough surface that needs a lot of work or partaking in some recreational narcotics. It just doesn’t happen in my experience, hope for half an ounce at best and you’ll never be disappointed. Here she is, all sanded and ready for dispatch. I need to find a decent quality but small box now.

Looking at this photo has just made me realise this shape is not dissimilar to my own bat. If this bat performs anything like mine, I’ll have one very happy customer.

The face finished beautifully.

Once again, I hope the customer will be happy with this. He asked me what I thought of the bat’s pickup. I couldn’t say… I like it but I’m subjective. He may be stronger than me or weaker. The truth is though, I don’t really get worried about pickup. Concerning myself with balance seems to be less subjective process. However I could start talking about subjectivity and “true objectivity” but I won’t, I can hear you breathing a sigh of relief.

Until next time…

@BeachcricketWWW