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Just purchased this pivot polisher and was wondering if anyone has specific info on how to use it. I installed it on one of my lathes and trying to understand specifically the technique for finishing balance staff pivots: if that is possible. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Dinner sorted... time to sleep Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Merry Christmas to you Mark. Your videos are an inspiration to those of us who tinker but have no real talent. It's been a great year and I'm looking forward to an even better 2019.

Happy Christmas Mark. You have the knife and fork the wrong way around.

Thank you very much J (@noirrac1j) - that's incredibly helpful. I've managed so far without a Bestfit Encyclopedia ... and in any case always thought they were weighty vintage tomes with a corresponding weighty price. This thread has prompted me to look closer and find that I can actually get an electronic copy online for relatively little money. It's now on my shopping list! The main reason for this thread is that sourcing 580C parts has proved difficult so I'm going to see if I can 'BestFit' from other sources. Interesting, for instance, to see that a calendar intermediate wheel comes from a Record 107C!

Mini lathe could mean a number of different machines, could you be more specific? As Measuretwice said, making the double taper solid bearings as seen on most watchmaker's lathes would be something even a seasoned master machinist would stress about. If the machine uses regular deep groove ball bearings those can be preloaded or angular contact bearings installed which are meant to be preloaded. Even that is tricky, as parallelism and concentricity and preload force are measured in microns or less. If you want the precision and collet holding ability of the usual watchmaker's lathe headstock, and the other capabilities of one of the mini lathes, you might have less trouble adapting an orphan headstock to the machine. Do it in a way that you can switch out the original with the other easily.

Added this Vostok "Cadet", or also called "Junior" or "Mini". It has a 32mm case (ex.crown) and nobody is quite sure whether it's a man- or a woman's-watch. Some suggest that these were issued in the '80's to the woman serving in the Russian Navy, but then again, they were also available to the civilian market, product number 461285 and powered by a 2409 movement. Often these dials are full of aging cracks, but this one, even-though used, has a mint dial. These Cadets are, for one reason or another, not much beloved in the collectors world and therefor cheap to get. Regardless, they are still a piece of the CCCP history and aren't produced anymore ..... I like this "dolphin" issue

Hello all, it's a seven jewel caravelle.Nothing special but it works.The strap is easy. Piece of 3/4 inch nylon strap ,ends melted on the kitchen stove,fastened with a dritz heavy duty snap.simple ,stupid,easy.