J.F. Hillerich & Son Oil Tempered Bat

[John V]

The tape is off and she's all cleaned up. There was a crack after all.
I like it better with all the wood showing.

[ruth-gehrig]

Great looking bat!

[perezfan]

Beautiful, and looks far prettier! Looks like the tape came off with no issues or residue. Great job... that would never happen for me.

[ruth-gehrig]

What's the deal the darker wood area from knob end up about 8 inches? It's as if the bat was originally taped up to that area thus protecting the darker grain and the tape you just removed was much more modern?

[perezfan]

I've seen that two-tone feature on quite a few bats of the era. It was not from tape, but was definitely done at the factory.

[ruth-gehrig]

Interesting. I did not know that. I'm assuming it was done purely for aesthetics?

[John V]

The handle and the barrel patina are actually much closer in color than the photo shows. As for the tape residue, there was a bunch of black stickum. I dipped my finger in a bowl of canola oil and coated the residue. After 10 or 20 minutes, I would wipe/rub with a terry cloth. I was surprised how the oil softened the black residue. I went through this process about 5 or 6 times. Afterwards, I wiped off the remaining oil residue with vinegar. Go figure. Thank you, Google.