Yeah dropping pins into the
deck is nice when possible. Cleaner look, and won't skid around the way a
wagon brake sometimes will when the
wagon gets hit with a lateral force. There tends to be a little more wobble though compared to well-done
wagon brakes, because of what Rainmaker describes; you have to have the hole big enough to not be fussing with the pin forever trying to get it to
drop in. And the average
barrel bolt has a lot of slop between
bolt and housing too, so I prefer to make my own pins from round bar, usually 3/8". I add
blocking under the
wagon lid so there's solid material holding the pin steady down to +1/2 from the
deck (or whatever my clearance needs to be) and then drill the exact pin diameter through that and the floor. One of those drill guide accessories like the DrillMate is helpful, because the hole needs to be very
plumb to function best.
Chamfer the end of the pin,
flare out the top of the hole in the
deck a little to help the pin find it (rather than drilling the whole depth wider which adds wiggle) and graphite lube everything til the pin can slide through with gravity. When done right you can
drop the pin as you approach
spike and let it drag til it drops into the hole. Give it another little push if needed to set it into the narrower depth of the hole in the
deck and you've got minimum wobble. Makes the shifts really smooth once the stagehands get used to it.
