Anyone doing pivot work?

[rustycolt]

In a terribly annoying case of 'I should have stopped and gone to bed a half hour ago' I find myself with a broken pallet pivot. As a hobbyist, I haven't got the tooling to repair it myself. Any fin upstanding WRT members with the ability to fix this willing to help a guy out? Happy to pay for the time of course

[oldhippy]

Oh dear I'm sure someone will help you out. You need to get a lathe to progress in your work. With a lathe this job is not that difficult as the steel is quite soft. 

[watchweasol]

Hi thats unfortunate for sure, I once did a wheel using a pillar drill and a vice  which turned out well so it is possible it just takes a bit more care and a good sharp drill bit

[oldhippy]

Agree, but I don't think our friend has such tools. 

[watchweasol]

Perhaps  JD can help if he reads the post  he is in Canada.  Without the basics in tools  its nigh on impossible.

[KarlvonKoln]

@JohnR725 - have you read this post yet?  I know you've spoken of pivots also, but this is a clock rather than a watch.  I'm guessing the principles are the same but the tools are bound to be a tad larger.  I cannot advise here, out of my depth to be honest.  Would you know what we could tell Rustycolt?  Any trusted people in the industry he could take this to?  Or can you do clock pivots as well?  

[rustycolt]

So far no luck. Nobody local performing this type of service, and by local I mean within 500km (or even in Canada for that matter). I've sent out some service requests to various establishments in the US, but oddly, I'm more comfortable with the members here in terms of having the work performed with care and consideration, regardless of their location! 

I'd love to tool up and advance my skills, and I feel like I constantly am doing just that. Most of my projects are watches, and there is a pretty long list of tools to add there as I progress into more complex jobs. I work on one, maybe two clocks a year just as a curiosity. If I see something mechanical in the classifieds that isn't expensive, it ends up in pieces on my bench basically Perhaps I'll dive a bit deeper with them in the future, but there are a number of very basic tools that would be required before I was ready to shop for a lathe. For now I am at the mercy of the good people here for guidance. My fingers remain crossed, and my gratitude to those participating remains extended!

[watchweasol]

If you were in the UK , no problem, I would do it my self.  Done pivots before on the lathe  good luck with the search.

[HectorLooi]

What about using a quick pivot?

I know that OH will be tearing his hair out at the mention of quick pivots, but consider the possibility. 

[jdm]

If one can accept a job that is not perfect or just temporary, a working pivot can be turned from a nail, using a drill fixed to the bench, a file, and fine sandpaper.

[RogerH]

Any repair is better than no repair at all. and yes, quick pivots aren't the best but if it means the clock lives once more then happy days.

[oldhippy]

6 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

What about using a quick pivot?

I know that OH will be tearing his hair out at the mention of quick pivots, but consider the possibility. 

 I must say that is the easy option when you have no other way. I don't recommend using a nail. The broken pivot is on the pallets and they have to be a certain depth to the escape wheel teeth. Drilling a hole has to be right center in order for the escapement to work, you will never get the pivot to be the excite diameter by using sandpaper.

HectorLooi I don't have much hair to pull out these days. 

[watchweasol]

Faced with the option of scrapping the clock or effecting a "repair" I would opt for the repair, to me a quick pivot under the circumstances would qualify as  suitable repair.

[rustycolt]

It might be a bit of good fun to try to 'turn' my own pivot by strapping a drill to the bench and using what I have lying around, but I'm going to steer clear of work that has the potential to make a proper repair to the part impossible. ...ask me how I learned THAT lesson. I actually have a paper clip that is exactly the correct diameter if I wanted to attempt that type of bodge, but drilling the pinion to accept it is where disaster surely lurks. 

This is the nicest clock I've personally owned, and my first longcase. It took me years to find the right one, so the last thing I want to do is turn a curable fault into an incurable one by being 'resourceful' 

Quick pivots are an option, but I think a last option. Surely I'll be able to locate a reputable and qualified repairer, and though it isn't perfect, the modern mail system stands a pretty fair chance of delivering and returning a package. It really does, right?