Polishing Pivots With Rubberized Abrasives?

[64americandeluxe]

I stumbled across a website yesterday where a fellow was polishing pivots, by hand, with a rubberized abrasive from a company called Cratex.  Has anyone used this particular product?  Thoughts on its effectiveness, or lack thereof?

http://www.cratex.com/cratex-round-sticks/

Cheers!

Roger

[Geo]

It's a new one on me Roger, the square ones look like they could be worth trying.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Geo

[64americandeluxe]

You see, I bet if you were an apprentice you would know all about it Geo!  ;)

Roger

[anilv]

Looks too co**BLEEP** to me.

[64americandeluxe]

There are various grades available.

[clockboy]

I presume when you say by hand you mean using a Jacot tool. The rubberized abrasives I have never used & looking at the pics I would say they are too course. I use as little force & grit size as possible. This is one area where watch & clock repairers prefer different methods.

Unless the pivots are really bad I prefer to use a burnisher & oil slowly, slowly on my lathe making sure I keep the burnisher absolutely square. I have finished polishing clock pivots before with Brasso but not watch pivots.

If the pivot is really badly scored I use a brass slip charged with diamatine. For really bad clock pivots I start with a buff stick. 

There is a lot of information & ideas on this subject on the net.

 

However a good point to remember is the following when working with pivots:

Polishing removes metal , burnishing moves metal.

Edited January 29, 2015 by clockboy

[Geo]

However a good point to remember is the following when working with pivots:

Polishing removes metal , burnishing moves metal.

Very good points there Clockboy.

I would also add that the main effect of burnishing is not just to get the smooth shiny finish, it is to work harden the surface and extendi the working life of the pivot.

[clockboy]

There is a vid on youtube by perplxr where the guy is showing the buffing & polishing of a watch case. Although on a much larger scale the principles applied and how it works is the same with pivots. 

[64americandeluxe]

Hi Clockboy,

The fellow I saw online was not using the Jacot tool, but actually using the Cratex by hand (twisting it on the pivot).  I was curious if it might be useful during a service to improve the finish on the pivot if a Jacot tool wasn't available.   

Roger

[anilv]

Pivots wear .. and when they do, they do not wear evenly (you will usually have a taper). They also break. With these two circumstances there is not much a hobbyist can really do except change the part (assuming the jewel/ hole is ok). The Jacot tool is a really specialised bit of kit, you're chances of breaking a pivot are higher that actually polishing one!

 

Poking the pivot into a rubberized abrasive will not magically make the pivots better.. (the American phrase 'polishing a turd' comes to mind).. it will just make your pivots progressively smaller as material is removed.

 

Also the in/out movement of pushing the pivot into/out of the rubberised material will raise scratches lenghtwise...this is not helpful.

 

Try to imagine polishing a case with these sticks..It would be difficult to acheive the finished gloss you see on a watch-case with these sticks.. you need progressively finer pastes to get the mirror finish.! At this level there would be no discernible 'grit' which you can identify physically (eg between your fingernails).

 

sorry if I seem to be a bit negative but I really don't see any advantage in this item in relation to polishing pivots.

 

Anil

[Geo]

If we ignore pivots for a minute, I think this product could well have other uses. I feel that it could be very useful for case and bracelet re-finishing, also if it is firm enough to be held in a chuck and can be turned down to a specific size, it could be used for producing perlage finish.

I am going to try and acquire some and test it out.

[64americandeluxe]

That answers my question Anil. What you stated makes sense.

Geo: they can be used with power tools. They have various styles on their site if you wanted to experiment. Let us know how you make out

Thanks for everyone's insight!

[steve855]

If we ignore pivots for a minute, I think this product could well have other uses. I feel that it could be very useful for case and bracelet re-finishing, also if it is firm enough to be held in a chuck and can be turned down to a specific size, it could be used for producing perlage finish.

I am going to try and acquire some and test it out.

I have done this very thing on a rifle bolt, although in the gunsmithing world I think it's referred to as "jeweling". Same look, with the overlapping circles. I made a split collet to hold the cratex rod in my drill press. It worked well enough, I guess.

[Geo]

I have done this very thing on a rifle bolt, although in the gunsmithing world I think it's referred to as "jeweling". Same look, with the overlapping circles. I made a split collet to hold the cratex rod in my drill press. It worked well enough, I guess.

I've "jewelled" a few firearms in the past using a piece of wooden dowel with Evazote impregnated with very fine grinding paste glued to the end. Evazote is a very firm thermo-plastic foam. If I knew about Cratex rod at the time I would certainly have given it a try.

[bobm12]

Hats off to you guys, I've only used india stones in my firearms...for the trigger that's it! I can't care less about the finish since they get all messed up on the outside when I go hunting...you know, fences to jump, rivers to cross, mud, sand, dirt, you get the idea...and when they are in a buggy they get every single tree branch on them! But on the bright side, as long as they shoot straight I'm happy!

[steve855]

Looks good Bob! I hear those wild hogs are tough. Great camo, I can't even see your head at all, haha!

In my case the rifle in question was a Savage 110 which was given to me at 15yrs of age. It was always a good shooter but had an awful club of a birch stock. About 10 years ago I decided to restock it, so I bought a rough inletted blank from California, a really nice piece of walnut. I pillar bedded the action, checkered and finished it myself and I can say it turned out every bit as well as I expected, and then some. The checkering and finishing was extremely time-consuming though. I would say that stock checkering is somewhat akin to watch repair- to achive a decent result you have to "zoom in" your attention to a very small area of concentration, and take your time. As soon as you try to rush the job things come unraveled right in front of your eyes!

Also, while I had the rifle apart I did some smoothing and adjusting of the trigger, and the bolt jeweling mentioned earlier, along with a few other little things.

It's now quite nice to look at, and most importantly it has a proper stock that fits me, so it's far more pleasant to use and carry.

[bobm12]

Oh yea, camo is everything! :) 

 

BTW, excellent news steve, those Savage 110s have always have a reputation as straight shooters. That's a very involved job you did and I bet it is a real pride to use it! I did a bit of gunsmithing myself some years back but the lack of space and the kids running all over the place made the job too complicated to pursue! I mostly do my triggers, sights and little other stuff now....

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[altaka]

We have a Gent selling these carbide dusted 1 inch rubber disks with an .125 " adapter for a small electric drill. I have used them when the opportunity arises while repairing clock pivots. They last a long time.

It also works quite well polishing out marks on verges/anchors for clock repair.

He sells three grits, name is Mark Butterworth, you can find him at  http://butterworthclocks.com/PartsAndAccessories.pdf

You'll need to login

username is     butterworth

password is      butterworth

 

Its not a cure for all problems but it is an important tool that I use for many purposes

Al Takatsch

[bobm12]

Excellent reference Al, I "just" happen to receive his email with those passwords since his page requires them to enter. He manufactures ceramic ball bearings that substitute jewels in clocks (the review on them was outstanding)...I was wondering if there are some small enough to use in, say, pocket watches! I haven't been able to visit again, -- this time with the passwords -- but hopefully soon.

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[Legarm]

Hats off to you guys, I've only used india stones in my firearms...for the trigger that's it! I can't care less about the finish since they get all messed up on the outside when I go hunting...you know, fences to jump, rivers to cross, mud, sand, dirt, you get the idea...and when they are in a buggy they get every single tree branch on them! But on the bright side, as long as they shoot straight I'm happy!

 

 

Testing a 454Casul and a 7mm Magnum:

 

 

Both with custom triggers.

 

I thought I had gone on the wrong site.

 

Is this appropriate to the thread. I think not. Just some one who thinks they have done well by shooting innocent animals.

 

If you want to upload your "KILLS", please do it on a site accustomed to these sort of images.

[Denis]

+1 Bob, please remove those images.

[bobm12]

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone. Apparently it was taken the wrong way. Since I am no vegetarian, I refuse to buy hormone and antibiotic ridden food in the supermarkets. I rather save a cow than a wild hog that eats my corn.

 

Please, Mark if you think this answer is inappropriate, feel free to remove it. I just needed to clarify matters. Thank you in advance.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bob

[Mark]

Closing this thread as it has gone in totally the wrong direction.