How to Renew an Old Cricket Bat
- By Jacob Kemp
- Jun 16, 2016
- 5 min read
From the sun soaked backyards of Australia and India to the rain soaked pitches in England, it is all too common to see old cricket bats going to waste, just lying around with no purpose anymore. Not many people realize that for very little cost and effort they can be made into a full performing cricket bat once more, whether for use in games or just in the backyard. Below are the simple and easy steps that you can take to repair and renew your old cricket bat as well as the required materials.
Materials:
Bats
Cloth
Sandpaper of different coarseness (80,120,180,240)
Sandpaper block
Bat Oil
Wood Putty
Grips
Bat Tape
Tape
Superglue
Toe Guard
Method:
1. Firstly, identify what bat you would like to renew, then strip the bat of any old stickers and strip it back to the wood. The stickers might be difficult to pull off but with a bit of effort you shouldn't have too many issues. You also might potentially need to pull a grip off the bat handle. This once again might be a bit hard but with effort shouldn't be too hard. The other thing that you might need to remove is a toe guard, this is the hardest to remove and chances are your bat doesn't have one. However if your bat does have one, to get it off you should use a sharp knife and cut it off, running the blade between the guard and the wood and sanding the rest. Be careful!
2. Next, spend 10 minutes giving the bat a minor sand all over with 80 grit sandpaper. Once this is completed it should become very clear what cracks and blemishes exist. Identify these cracks, to be fixed.
3. Once the cracks and chips have been identified it is now time to fix them! For the majority of cracks use superglue, however if there is an exceptionally large crack then use wood putty. The process itself is pretty straight forward. Superglue the crack and then leave the bat for 24 hours. At the completion of the 24 hours sand it back until it looks natural. If using wood putty, fill the gap with wood putty before once again leaving for 24 hours and then sand back to a natural look.
4. Now it is time to apply a toe guard (if you so desire). A toe guard is not essential but it will protect the toe of your bat and is to be recommended. When you buy a toe guard, it will generally come with the required adhesive and everything you need to put the toe guard on yourself. The steps for applying a toe guard can differ from brand to brand but I use these steps from Kookaburra.
-Ensure your cricket bat is dry and free from linseed oil to ensure the toe guard will adhere to the wood.
-Rough up the cricket bat toe and the smooth side of the toe guard (side without logo) with the emery board.
-Apply a thin coating of the adhesive to the roughed up cricket bat toe and leave for approximately 15 minutes or until adhesive become "tacky".
-Apply a further thin coat of adhesive to cricket bat toe, and one coat to the roughed up side of the toe guard and leave both for approximately 15 minutes or until the adhesive becomes "tacky".
-Position the cricket bat with the toe pointing up towards you, and apply the toe guard to the toe of the bat and gently tap the toe guard into position with a hammer or mallet and leave to set for 12 hours.
5. The next step is by far the longest and is quite repetitive. This step involves giving the bat a complete sanding. Once you are happy with all the cracks you have filled in, then it is time to sand it all over. Sanding using a sanding block is to be recommended as probably the best way in nearly all circumstances. Use 80 grit paper to get rid of big blemishes and strip back larger amounts of wood. Once all major blemishes are gone then progress onto 120 grit sandpaper to get rid of the scratches left behind from the 80 grit paper. Once all scratches are gone move onto the 180 and then 320 grit sandpaper to achieve a smooth surface. It can be quite hard to sand the back of the bat and sanding the back should be undertaken carefully. This is due to the uneven shape of the back which can cause a non-proportionate sanding.
6. Next you must oil your bat. You should be able to purchase bat oil (linseed oil) either online or from a cricket store or most sports stores. By oiling your bat you are protecting it and ensuring that it will last longer. A bat should be oiled around every six months. However given you are renewing a bat, it probably hasn't been oiled for ages, if at all. To oil your bat, pour a little bit of bat oil (linseed oil) onto a cloth and then rub it onto the whole surface area of your bat. Then leave the bat for a couple of days. Then do it once again. As mentioned before the bat should then be oiled again at least once a year to prolong its lifespan.
7. By now you are nearing the end and you have reached the fun, second last step, of choosing and applying your bat stickers. There is no secret about applying cricket bat stickers. Simply buy some bat stickers and stick them on. Although I recommend trying to make it look good, this step is really up to you. You might even decide you don't want stickers.
8. Finally, buy a bat grip and put it on your bat handle. The grip will make the bat easier to grip, make it look better and give it protection. The easiest and quickest way to put a grip on is to use a specialized cone. It can be done other ways. If you look on the internet there are a variety of less common methods to get them on but these are uncommon for a reason and don't tend to work, or you can spend hours trying to get it on. It can be very tough without a cone. Then put a strip of tape along where the grip meets the face of the bat to hold the grip there.
9. If there are any other things you would like to do to your bat, put them in where you think they fit best. If there are still some cracks showing at this point you might like to put some bat tape on. However, this is just for added support and is certainly not essential.
Once you have finished all the steps, your bat is complete. I hope this website has helped and that you have learnt how to renew your old cricket bat! Your bat probably doesn't look brand new but hopefully it looks a lot better and is way more usable than before!
Comments