Brian Thornton,  I'm happy to get a chance to return the favor for all
the information you sent about my Baldwin Manualo restoration.  I've got
25 years experience trying all different kinds of piano hammers, and have
often experienced the same frustration you're having.  Recently I've
found the following two hammer suppliers to be excellent:

    Pacific Piano Supply Company
    PO Box 8419, 16153 Leadwell Street
    Van Nuys, California 91406
    Phone (818) 779-1586
    Fax   (818) 779-1354

They charge $4 for a catalog.  It is a small catalog, they don't stock a
lot of items.  I've bought about four sets of hammers from them in the
past year which have all been very good.

    A. Isaac Pianos
    308 Betty Ann Drive
    Willowdale, Ontario M2R 1B1
    CANADA
    Phone (416) 229-2096

This man is visually impaired, but if given detailed instructions and
measurements he makes a beautiful set of hammers.  He claims the felt he
uses is the same supplied to Steinway (maybe that's not necessarily a
great recommendation!).  I've bought three or four sets from him and they
have been the best sounding North-American made hammers I've ever used.
He only does hammers, and will send a free brochure and price list.

Another possibility is Renner hammers from Germany.  I last used them 20
years ago and they were excellent; I can't vouch for their quality at
this time:

    Louis Renner Stuttgart
    Fritz-Reuter Strasse 18
    Post Box 423
    D-7000 Stuttggart 1
    Phone 07 11/65 30 65

These numbers are from almost 20 years ago; so they may have changed.
They will charge a hefty fee for their catalog (they wanted $15 in 1979).

Finally you can try Imadegawa hammers from Japan.  These are available
now from Schaff Piano Supply in Chicago.  I haven't tried them myself,
but I'm sure they're better than Schaff's own hammers, or APSCOs.

I hope this is helpful.

Larry Lobel