I own a vintage, wooden bat which I wanted to restore by myself, for myself.

Some of the areas where I required help are:

1) Removing stickers and their marks: There are these old stickers on the bat which are still their half-torn from the time I bought the bat (a decade ago). These stickers and their marks give the bat this old look which I want to transform to new. So what are the materials and ways of removing stickers and their marks from the bat and make it look like a new one? Will sanding cause the bat to loose its originality? Please clarify.

2) Crack (line visible) near the area joining the handle and the bat-body: Theres a crack near the area joining the handle to the main body of the bat, its not necessarily broken but its just deep crack (line visible) which I want to make doesn’t cause the bat to break in future. So do I fill it with adhesive or what measures should be taken?

3) Bottom part (where we apply the “toe guard”) has lost its shape: This part of the bat, due to constant thumping, has got deformed, i.e- lost its original semi-circular shape and has become irregularly shaped. So what do to, to get it back into its shape?

Some of the pics depicting conditions of my bat:

The body(showing the sticky-back part.#1

~(Same stickiness is on the front part)

The crack which I said about in #2

The irregular bottom part.#3

So basically I need help to final the stuffs which I would require (and from where), and how to use them in executing the above mentioned steps effectively:)) I know lots of works to be done. But I certainly will be successful with your involvement.

Thank you!

  • Can you please add some images? – Nothingismagick Apr 28 '18 at 11:33
  • Do you want to bring the bat back to 'looks like new' status to sell it as new or do you just want to look as nice as possible for your own use? – Willeke Apr 28 '18 at 13:14
  • @Willeke For my own use, certainly. – user377340 Apr 28 '18 at 13:43
  • @Nothingismagick Please find the images :)) Took some time to upload as I had remove some of the duct tapping I had previously done on it (don’t know why). – user377340 Apr 28 '18 at 14:41

This is what I would do if I had to do this:

  1. Use fine sandpaper to remove the stickers and the lacquer.* You may want to sand down the scratches as well, but I can’t tell by the photos if that would be a good idea, or that they are too deep (they seem to be so) and trying to fix them would deform the shape of the bat itself.

  2. Fill the large crack with wood adhesive. Keep in mind that some adhesives (like PVA) shrink as they dry. If the crack is too wide it may be a better idea to mix some fine sawdust with the adhesive instead of using plane adhesive.

  3. Measure and draw a pencil line indicating the desired shape of the bottom part. Use rough sandpaper to shape it and then polish it with fine sandpaper.

  4. Put finish on it. (From the little search I did on what finish to use for the purpose, people advise against using hard finish, as it may end up cracking. Polyurethane spray was a suggestion I found reasonable.)

*You asked if sanding it down will cause the bat to lose its originality. I’m not sure what you mean by this - what you want to do: remove the stickers, the cracks and deformities, will cause it to lose its originality in a way. If you are concerned about deforming it somehow – then no, the finest grade sandpaper is used for polishing and it won’t deform it, or leave scratches.

| improve this answer | |
  • Thanks for your answer:) I have certain doubts to the steps you mentioned: 1) How can I get lacquer and would it be possible to fill those scratches, somehow by any method? 2) Whats PVA commonly known as? And also pls mention what its actually called. 3) SANDING the entire bottom part would be a tough game, don’t you think so? Is there any alternative method? 4) Can any natural wood based oil be used, instead of using some artificial polishing agent?? It would be helpful if you reply in the same point format:) Thanks again! – user377340 Apr 29 '18 at 11:27

Your Answer

