A customer has a 1925 Mason & Hamlin 'A' and the hinge pins got lost. I tried successively larger drill bits in the hinges to see what size they should be and came up with .140". The ones that were in there were .136" (maybe .133" since I don't see .136" in the catalogs) and too loose -- they vibrate their way out of the hinges when playing. The hardware store had brass rod in .125" (1/8") and .156" (5/32") but not 9/64", which is close to the .140" I need. Schaff does indeed have a .140" pin, but APSCO doesn't. They both have a .117" and a .150", and both have a "Steinway" style pin (.144" in the APSCO catalog; no diameter given in the Schaff). Then Schaff has a Yamaha pin, but gives no diameter, and APSCO also offers .104", .125" (1/8"), and .133", one of which could be the Yamaha size, but they don't say. I've encountered Asian pianos with hinge pins that are .157" and .197" (probably 4mm and 5mm, since they're metric, I presume) but neither supply house offers these. And it can take 2 months to order them from Korea via California, which I've had to do. Schaff doesn't seem to have trap pins, but APSCO does have some at .155", which could be used for the .157", I guess. But why all the disparity? Why can't one or both of the large suppliers offer all the sizes, metric and "standard", and give diameters for all the pins? Haven't the two merged now? Didn't Schaff buy American or vice versa? Why do they keep two separate catalogs? Just put everything in one book so we don't have to go back and forth, seeing who carries what and who has the better price, and who has "the good kind" of bushing cloth and who has "the cheap kind" of bridle straps, or whatever. I know this is endemic to the capitalist/consumer system, but it's also a time-waster, whether you're ordering a couple hinge pins or a whole slew of stuff for a rebuild job. --David Nereson, RPT
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