How to Make a Cricket Bat at Home
Cricket bats are usually made from wood of willow trees. Scientifically named as Salix alba Caerulea, this is a fibrous and soft wood. Because of this, a lot of maintenance and care is needed if you want your bat to keep performing at its best. Practice batting is the key to improve your performance at cricket, and if you are planning to make a bat at home, you will need some knowledge of working with the wood. Here at oneHOWTO we will tell you how to make a cricket bat at home on your own.
Ingredients:
Steps to follow:
The first step to make a cricket bat at home is to select the wood cut you want to use to make the bat. Wood from English willow trees can have minor imperfections, but they don’t affect the final piece too much. Pre-cut the section of the wood into a workable size, and then wax it on both ends and dry. Give enough time for the wood to dry properly, otherwise the wood may warp or crack, and your entire effort may go waste
Cut the basic shape of the cricket bat with a table saw. The front part should have a raised peak going roughly halfway up to the center, and the back of the bat should be flat.
The size of the bat will depend on the height of the person that will use it, but bat lengths go from 15 1/4"for small kids, and 33 1/2" for the tallet adults. Take a look at our article on how to size a cricket bat to get the right measurement.
Then you will have to compress the wood piece in order to add strength to the willow fibers. Surround the piece with flat pieces of iron scrap, roughly the same size as the blade of the bat. Then use strong clamps to add pressure. Try to get closer to 2000 pounds per sq. inch, as it will make your bat stronger.
Make the cricket bat handle for your cricket bat with rubber strips and a cane. It should be comfortable on grip, so glue the rubber strips on the wood before laminating the whole piece. The handle’s lower part should be cut into a wedge shape, which will be carved into the bat’s blade with the help of a band saw. Stick the handle in place, making sure that the top part extends a little bit above the front part of the blade. Leave overnight to dry.
Use a draw knife to carve the blade for your homemade cricket bat, and make sure that it is balanced perfectly. Try to leave the maximum wood behind in the blade’s striking position, as it will add to the bat’s strength and durability. Use a wooden plane to carve and smooth out any imperfections.
You must be seeing an uneven texture on your bat. You can sand the cricket bat out with a sandpaper, and give it a smooth finish.
After sanding the cricket bat, apply compound wax to polish it.
With such a finely created bat you have custom made for yourself, you maximize your chances to get into an Indian cricket team.
You can also learn how to make a cricket ball, so you can have your own made cricket kit.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Make a Cricket Bat at Home, we recommend you visit our Sports category.
