Summary

In this edition of Tools of the Trade we look at a jig that helps pinch lacrosse heads.

Box lacrosse is growing in popularity as much or maybe more than field which is great to see. The biggest majority of box is played in Canada. Because of this, most large equipment manufacturers retail box equipment and heads primarily in Canada and players in the states have a hard time getting heads and equipment that is specialized for indoor/box lacrosse.

One of the first things that people think about box is a pinched head because one thing that most know about box is there are different rules as far as pocket depth and width of your stick. The most popular thing for most is to pinch/bake a head to make it more narrow to help control the ball. There are many methods to do this, from baking in the oven, place the head in boiling water and so on. The method to hold the head while being heated can be just as interesting but most use string or just mold with their hands. That's where this jig comes in. This version is a design of the great Paul Gait. It's made out of all aluminum to help with heat transfer and no warping after repeated use. The brackets are all welded on in strategic places to make it a universal jig. To use, load the head in by placing throat into the holder, then pinch the sidewalls and push down in. Then preheat and oven to 350 degrees and once to temperature place in oven for 5 minutes. Remove and place in a freezer for 15 minutes to allow the plastic to set and gain it's strength. When pulled from the freezer the head usually falls out of the jig making for the perfect box pinch every time.

While you do not need a jig to box pinch a head, they certainly take the guess work out of it and make for a very straight professional looking final product. This is just an example of someone coming up with a very simple tool to make a process easier. In the end that's what tools do, help us make tasks easier, faster and sometimes fun!

Details