Union shop makes pro bats and sticks CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO — Since 1905 a woodworking~shop here in Hespeler has been supplying athletes with top quality hockey sticks and aseball bats. Today about 45 skilled union craftsmen and members of IWA -CANADA Local 1-500 work at Cooper Canada’s shop. The plant was the first hockey stick manufacturer in the country and is also Canada’s only baseball bat factory. It supplies such major league base- ball teams as the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos with both cus- tom made bats for individual players and “farm bats” for their minor league affiliates. The workers can put out a bat to the player’s specifications with 3-4/1000ths of an inch in length and down to within 5 grams of the desired weight. Plant Manager Ross Heuhn attri- utes Cooper's success to the dedica- tion, skilled abilities and commitment of its union employees. © Daryl Sippel sands a bat on a high speed belt machine, “Our whole success in the bat busi- ness can be attributed to our people,” says Mr. Heuhn. Most material for the bats comes in the form of hardwood dowel (white ash) from the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and the Catskill Moun- tains in eastern N.Y. State. The company kiln dries its hard- wood before spinning it on high speed lathes. The bats are spun to exact player or farm team specifications. The pros prefer bats with 3-4 grains per inch while the farm teams get them with 8-9 grains per inch and generally weigh about 31-32 oz. Major league baseball’s rules com- mittee won't allow a bat to exceed a maximum diameter of 2%4 inches and a lot of big name players are using tapered handles down to % of an inch in diameter. Mr. Heuhn says the thinner han- dles and large barrels give a whip like action which results in better perfor- mance and, incidentally, more broken bats. Some major leaguers will go through up to 300 bats per season. Such notables as Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals, Jose Canseco of the Oakland A’s, George Bell of the Toronto Blue Jays and Paul Molitar of the Milwaukee Brewers are customers of the Hespeler plant. Cooper produces about 8,000 pro bats per year and is up against some pretty stiff competition from Hillerch and Bradsbury of Kentucky (Louis- ville Slugger), Adirondak Rawlings in N.Y. State and the Worth Bat Co. in Tennessee. Although the use of aluminum bats is on the rise due to their manufactur- ers’ aggressive marketing and the products’ durability, it is widely believed that solid wooden bats will retain their status quo for many years to come. It is doubtful whether base- ball purists will ever succumb to alu- minum bat technology. The plant keeps a sample bat from each customer to ensure the quality of its products. Cooper also produces about 500,000 hockey sticks annually, supplying everything from street hockey sticks for juveniles to made-to-order profes- sional sticks. The plant is the oldest producer of hockey sticks in the world. Peter Springall, who began work- ing at the plant in 1949 says that the plant actually used to turn out more sticks back in the 50s. Then a one piece stick made from ash or hickory was produced. Brother Springall, who helped orga- nize the IWA (it was then named Local 2-136) in the plant in 1951, says there. hasn’t been much change in employment levels over the years. In 2 minutes prior to clamping. the 50s and 60s the plant didn’t sup- ply the pros with custom made jobs as there was more money in making regular sticks. When Cooper took over in 1973 they started making custom made sticks for NHL stars. Today most sticks contain handles made from birch plywood. Cooper gets most of its natural materials from MacMillan Bloedel’s Multiply operation in Lake Nipigon, Ontario, another IWA -CANADA plant. Most blades are made from white ash or a combination of fibre glass and aspen. The NHL doesn’t have any restrictions on the amount of fibre glass used, which is generally lighter and stronger. New customers Custom curving a professional hockey stick is John Seaton. The blade is steamed for include the Vancouver Canucks’, Vla- dimir Krutov and Igor Larionov. Goal- tenders from the Calgary Flames, Philadelphia Flyers, and Toronto Maple Leafs are among the customers. Curves in the stick are made to player specifications by steaming the ends for 2 minutes and then pressing them in a set of clamps. Then often a web of fibre is added to the blade and is glued over and then sanded smooth. All stick components are carefully sanded, glued and marked with the company logo and hockey stick model number. It takes dedicated craftsmanship, the kind that union wages can keep around. © Fusing fibreglass to hockey stick blades is Eva Ho. © Anorder of “farm bats” is silk screened with the Cooper logo by Frank Cavanaugh. The bats were ordered by the Toronto Blue Jays for spring training in Florida. LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1990/15