Bill Maguire wrote in 120120 MMDigest:

> I find that not all #2 and #3 tips are alike, which is why I carry
> a big selection.  Because you did try so many different tips,
> I think your problem is most likely the previous tuners of this
> piano over the many decades.

This substantiates my findings thus far.  It appears the newer #2 and
#3 tips are not the same as in the 'good old days'.  It is not the pins
because I tried a vast majority of pins from my 'parts department' and
the tips do not fit nearly as nicely as the old Hale tips and other
ones used to.

A friend of mine who is still in the business (now in the UK) said that
it is a really common problem for his apprentices to not be able to buy
hammers and tips that fit properly on customers' old pianos and they
frequently have to borrow from him.

This is all pretty interesting as I have never seen any specification
on the taper, size and threads of the different tuning hammers.  If
anyone has such information, I would love to know about it, just for
my interest.

Regards,
Bernt Damm
Sydney