I have been to his workshop and had a bat made, and can tell you that Julian makes, sands and finishes all the bats himself.
The 3/4 hours is total time for each bat, but he actually cuts the clefts to size, splices and handles a large group of them at a time (around 250 in his workshop ready to be shaped), so when you go and visit him, or you order one online/by phone, he then only has to shape, sand and finish the bats, which takes around an hour and a half.
When I went to his workshop, he had 4 rows of bats (double sided) each of which had around 30 bats (each side, so 60 total per row), which made it around 250 bats handled and ready to be shaped. He has them set up in the different grades, and has them laid out with the light clefts being at one end, and the heavy one’s being at another. Once you tell him what you want (grade, light/heavy, grains) he grabs 5 or 6 and hits them up to see how they feel, he then narrows it down to around 2 and then hits them up some more until he finds which one he thinks is best. He then starts shaping the bat, and throughout the process he would give me the bat to feel, then he would continue shaping. Once he was satisfied, he then commences sanding which consist of course followed by a fine sanding. He then wax’s and buffs the bat to a nice finish then applies stickers and grip. Then they are finished and you are good to go. I have to say that it was an absolutely awesome experience to see him at work, and to talk to him about who he has made bats for and his journey through bat making was just awesome. I will remember the experience forever.
CD, I got a series 3 with a slightly higher middle.
