size of capstan wrench?

[dpmusic]

Bit of an emergency on the road, have to get a standard wrench for temporary action tweaking- left mine behind.

Does anyone know what the actual spec measurement is of the wrench? 1/4"?

[pianotuner steveo]

In a pinch, (no pun intended) needle nose pliers may be your best bet. Other than the piano tools made specifically for this, standard wrenches may be too wide to fit between the piano parts. Having said all that, the tool sold on eBay is 3/16", not 1/4", but like I said a tool from a hardware store may be too wide to fit between the parts.

[velo-hobo]

I can confirm the wrench I have is 3/16" as well. If you are in an area where it's easier to find metric tools, 5mm would probably work fine. In my experience there usually isn't enough torque required to where I'd worry about stripping the wrench flats with a slightly too-big wrench.

On that note, my wrench is actually slightly oversized and also tapers out a little bit at the opening. To be honest, I can't remember if I modified it myself to be like this! It does seem to help get it more easily seated on the capstan flats, given the obstructed visibility and limited room to work.