hinge pins

[Dave Nereson]

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