I like my 40 year old marine plywood bats, and I avoid plastic like the plague. That said, these have one great advantage. When I make plates, wide bowls, and other things with wide bottoms (especially using porcelain) they do not separate easily from the wood bats. With these I simply wait for the pots to firm up and bend the bat over my knee, rotate 90 degrees and bend it again. No problem with separation, warping or cracking. Just flip over a d trim.See full review