Knocking in question

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bboy0001

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Knocking in question

Hi guys, bought a new bat this week beautiful english willow grade 1, im currently about 3 quarters through knocking it in, im doing the edges and the ball is leaving red marks on the edge i know it sounds stupid but i dont want the red marks on the edge, can i oil the bat after knocking it in or will that ruin my hard work??



"What is life but a game of cricket"
 
Re: Knocking in question

Oiling won't harm it at all. It may cause it to swell very slightly but it needs to be oiled so that the fibres aren't pressed together too hard until they won't allow oil in later and it will split.
Oiling won't get rid of those marks however but you still need to.
 
Re: Knocking in question

you can but if you knock it in properly the oil won't penetrate as well meaning that the bat will not last as long.
 
Re: Knocking in question

brickwaller99;394279 said:
you can but if you knock it in properly the oil won't penetrate as well meaning that the bat will not last as long.
Click to expand...

Do you actually understand the process of knocking in and oiling? Go on, humour me.
 
Re: Knocking in question

hey that's just what i've been told. I haven't got a new bat in about 8 years and i've been told that since so i haven't seen if it worked but it makes sense that the tighter you squeeze the fibres the more likely they are to get out of shape and the more likely they are to expand when they are oiled in a different shape.
 
Re: Knocking in question

Oil doesn't soak all the way through a bat (unless you dip it in the stuff), it only just penetrates the surface. The idea with oiling is to form a barrier, one that keeps the natural moisture of the wood in and keeps out the damp and rain.

Whilst knocking in a bat, yes, you do knit the fibres of the wood together but not to a point where they are so firmly locked together there is no give. If that was the case then the bat would be dead, as there would be no spring. The theory is that you create a harder outside surface whilst the middle remains relevantly unchanged, although some change does occur during the knocking in process.
 
Re: Knocking in question

If the knocking in treatment has very little or no affect on the middle then why should the middle affect how the ball comes off the bat? especially because once it is knocked in it has the hard casing you speak but when knocking it in it has no affect on the middle even though this casing is not present?
 
Re: Knocking in question

Knocking in is more of a protection issue than a performance one, although it performs both functions. There is an optimum state between the wood being 'soft' and 'hard' where the bat performs at its best. Knocking in does affect the 'middle' of the bat but not to the same extent that if effects the wood closest to the surface.

Willow is springy, with loose fibres. Knocking in helps to knit these fibres together, giving the wood extra strength and to a point, performance. The middle effects the way the ball comes off due to the amount of 'spring (or rebound)' it has as well as the amount of wood located there.
 
Re: Knocking in question

Ok guys thanks alot, and mas cambios i do understand the process of oiling and knocking in, was just making sure i would not reck my bat as i paid a hell of alot of money for it.
 
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