I’m sure everyone out there knows the frustration of finding that perfect, bargain Pro Jr. friction head only to find out that the pan handle is missing. A client called to ask if I had such a friction head in stock and I did, but minus the pan handle. I do have a giant box full of pan handles from various pan tilt heads, but, as you might suspect, there were none for this particular Pro Jr. Head. The pan handle attaches to this series of Pro Jr. heads with a machined brass rosette that allows the handle to be installed in various positions.
This is, of course, a proprietary rosette, and none of the after market parts I have seen are compatible. As I had a ready customer, it seemed like a nice distraction from other work to spend a few hours machining a custom rosette and pan handle to complete this friction head. As you can see in the pictures, there was quite a bit of machining to do to end up with a pan handle socket with the correct rosette on it, and the pan handle itself. I am glad that this Pro Jr. head and tripod have found a new home and purpose.
