Papaya Picker

Step 3 Insert the Styrofoam spreader plug

I chose to use a Styrofoam spreader plug, instead of heating the base of the fingers to spread them apart without a plug.  If you heat and spread the fingers, the curvature of the pipe tends to flatten out, creating a hinge line in the finger, which I consider to be weaker than the original curvature.  You can see what I mean in the next step, where the finger tips are bent inward.