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pivot polishing all watches


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Just to make a distinction, this is not pivot polishing, this is pivot cleaning, there is a big difference.

If the pivot is just dirty this might be ok, but not if it has wear or worse rust spots.

It can not restore a barrelled or tapered pivot back to straight, for this you need a Jacot tool or something similar and pivot files / sapphire burnisher and or steel burnisher.

For dirty pivots that cleaning fluid alone cant clean I personally use pegwood with a bit of jewelers rouge with oil mixed in on my Jacot tool. This will remove dirt and oxidation but no good steel.

The fine grain rubber is still only 800 which in watch making terms is still very course, and if you don't clean it off completely could lead to premature wear on the jewels and pivots.

I certainly looks like a quick short cut but there is a reason why you don't see this taught anywhere or in any books.

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15 minutes ago, Tmuir said:

The fine grain rubber is still only 800 which in watch making terms is still very course, and if you don't clean it off completely could lead to premature wear on the jewels and pivots.

Agreed, if you put any form of abrasive anywhere, then you need to give the part a good clean afterwards, otherwise you are almost certainly going to increase wear on the part or whatever it mates with, due to any fine particles of abrasive that remain. 

Cousins do the pin polishing sticks...

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/pin-polishers-eveflex

.. as no doubt do a lot of jewelry supply companies, and of course ebay...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=pin+polish+abrasive+silicone&_sop=15&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=pin+polishers+abrasive+silicone&_sacat=0

 

 

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A good watch cleaning machine will clean all parts of the watch including pivots and the holes in which they fit. If a pivot is worn the wheel should be replaced, if a replacement can’t be found, then the pivot should be repaired, ending with burnishing.   

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16 minutes ago, Tmuir said:

Just to make a distinction, this is not pivot polishing, this is pivot cleaning, there is a big difference.

If the pivot is just dirty this might be ok, but not if it has wear or worse rust spots.

It can not restore a barrelled or tapered pivot back to straight, for this you need a Jacot tool or something similar and pivot files / sapphire burnisher and or steel burnisher.

For dirty pivots that cleaning fluid alone cant clean I personally use pegwood with a bit of jewelers rouge with oil mixed in on my Jacot tool. This will remove dirt and oxidation but no good steel.

The fine grain rubber is still only 800 which in watch making terms is still very course, and if you don't clean it off completely could lead to premature wear on the jewels and pivots.

I certainly looks like a quick short cut but there is a reason why you don't see this taught anywhere or in any books.

 

What dose that jewelers rouge look like, is this the commercial name for it. I have been using denture polishing compound on a tooth pick,. ey.  not bad.    TIA

 

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27 minutes ago, Nucejoe said:

What dose that jewelers rouge look like, is this the commercial name for it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=jewelers+rouge&_sop=15

It comes in many varieties, and many forms. Fundamentally it is rust (or to be more precise iron III oxide), often suspended in wax or other soft medium, or simply in graded powder from. It has been used for centuries to polish precious metals as it is a relatively soft abrasive. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(III)_oxide

The term "jewelers rouge" is also sometimes used in a more generic form, to indicate any form of jewelers polishing compound, so I've seen people referring to "green rouge" polishing compound etc.

Edited by AndyHull
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40 minutes ago, Nucejoe said:

What dose that jewelers rouge look like, is this the commercial name for it. I have been using denture polishing compound on a tooth pick,. ey.  not bad.    TIA

 

As ANdyHull says there are many different type.

I use the powdered type from Cousins, which is basically 'fine rust in a jar' :D

 

rouge.jpg

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I've got that too, once upon a time I used to dabble in making silver and more rarely gold jewelry.

I found if I told my wife I needed a new tool to make her some new jewelry for her I got less grief that saying I needed it to fix a toy live steam engine. :D

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On 2/27/2020 at 1:53 PM, AndyHull said:

What dose that jewelers rouge look like

Apparently, it looks like this.

Yes, that brownish red disk in the thumbnail above, is iron oxide suspended in a light mineral oil. So not only can you polish your watch cases with the stuff, but you can actually "see" audio recorded on magnetic media with it.

Incidentally this is not the first time I've encountered this trick. Back in the day, when people (old farts like me) actually repaired floppy drives and hard disks, rather than throwing them away, you could buy a similar fero-fluid filled contraption to assist you in  aligning the heads of 8" and 5 1/4" floppy disks and single platter hard drives. The tracks on these ancient drives where pretty massive compared with their modern equivalents. 

Needless to say since it cost an arm and a leg, I never actually bought one. It was actually just as easy to use an oscilloscope, which I did have,  but the gadget was a lot more portable than a 'scope.

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