Hello MMD.  I have begun the process of recovering the striking
pneumatics, and replacing their hinges, in the upper action of my Steck
player.  To my surprise the original hinges are oval (or elliptical)
with the fold along the minor axis of the ellipse.

Does anybody know what the point of the elliptical shape was?  The
new hinges will be much easier to cut out in a rectangular shape.
I can't think of any objection to a rectangle, as long as it doesn't
extend all the way to the side edges of the pneumatic.

As for a replacement hinge material, the nearest I can get to the
original, here in Hobart at the end of the earth, is some cotton
webbing I scrounged from a local piano store.  Apparently it comes
strapped around new pianos.  I suppose it is less likely then plastic
strapping to damage the finish on the pianos.  It works quite well but
the re-hinged pneumatics have more sideways play than is exhibited by
the original hinges.

I have acquired a piece of canvas which looks promising.  Using animal
glue I have glued scraps of the webbing and the canvas to a block of
wood and then tried to pull them off a day later.  Both required a lot
of effort to get them off, so I think either will work as a hinge.
Tomorrow I'll install a canvas hinge in a pneumatic and see how it
feels.

John Philips in Hobart, Tasmania