Rollifit pivot polisher

[Neverenoughwatches]

Hey all watch peeps, well happy new year to you all, heres hoping for a wonderful year ahead in the world of watch repair. Great tool and watch finds and even better fixing times to be seen by everyone in our community. I'd like to kick it off with this ingenious device and go ask if anyone has any experience with it. I think its also known by the brand of pivotfix ? . Used in conjunction with a Jacot it burnishes pivots by way of a hardened roller bearing.

[Jon]

Yes, I use one. They take the ball ache out of using a file and burnisher, although using a Jacot tool on its own is quite cathartic and good to learn the hard way. Best to have two grades of wheel. I use a wheel that is very much the coarseness of a file/burnisher, maybe 1000 to 2000 grit that takes out the scores on the pivot and can shape the pivot flat rather than tapered, and a fine wheel that gives the pivot a good polish.

I bought mine from this guy who makes them at a fraction of the price of a Pivotfix: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225939944659?hash=item349b11f4d3:g:pJoAAOSwExZlTmMs

This one comes with both wheels. Course and fine. It just needs a decent Jacot tool if you already have one. Result!

[Neverenoughwatches]

3 hours ago, Jon said:

Yes, I use one. They take the ball ache out of using a file and burnisher, although using a Jacot tool on its own is quite cathartic and good to learn the hard way. Best to have two grades of wheel. I use a wheel that is very much the coarseness of a file/burnisher, maybe 1000 to 2000 grit that takes out the scores on the pivot and can shape the pivot flat rather than tapered, and a fine wheel that gives the pivot a good polish.

I bought mine from this guy who makes them at a fraction of the price of a Pivotfix: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225939944659?hash=item349b11f4d3:g:pJoAAOSwExZlTmMs

This one comes with both wheels. Course and fine. It just needs a decent Jacot tool if you already have one. Result!

Thats really funny Jon, i bought that same one this morning from the same guy in Hungary. 

3 hours ago, Jon said:

Yes, I use one. They take the ball ache out of using a file and burnisher, although using a Jacot tool on its own is quite cathartic and good to learn the hard way. Best to have two grades of wheel. I use a wheel that is very much the coarseness of a file/burnisher, maybe 1000 to 2000 grit that takes out the scores on the pivot and can shape the pivot flat rather than tapered, and a fine wheel that gives the pivot a good polish.

I bought mine from this guy who makes them at a fraction of the price of a Pivotfix: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225939944659?hash=item349b11f4d3:g:pJoAAOSwExZlTmMs

This one comes with both wheels. Course and fine. It just needs a decent Jacot tool if you already have one. Result!

Are you pleased with it Jon ?  I was hesitant with it being out of the UK  but i had some xmas money from family so I just went for it. The guy seems fair and accepted an offer i made him, received a message shortly afterwards to say he will post tomorrow. 

[Waggy]

Haha only 2 days into the new year and I'm drooling at a new tool....must resist.........

[Neverenoughwatches]

9 hours ago, Waggy said:

Haha only 2 days into the new year and I'm drooling at a new tool....must resist.........

I'll let you know when it arrives and played with, Jon seems to give it thumbs up. Been practicing my jacot burnishing , its ok , i even added leccy power drive to it and that was real fun

[Jon]

20 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Are you pleased with it Jon ? 

Yes, it does exactly what it meant to do. As long as you set up the Jacot tool so the wheel comes down parallel to the runner it'll work a treat. I bought my orange (rougher cut) wheel from him separately once I'd realised that the smooth wheel that originally came with the tool wasn't going to take out the scratches on the arbors.

It's really well made as well. You won't be disappointed! 

Edited January 2, 2024 by Jon

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Jon said:

Yes, it does exactly what it meant to do. As long as you set up the Jacot tool so the wheel comes down parallel to the runner it'll work a treat. I bought my orange (rougher cut) wheel from him separately once I'd realised that the smooth wheel that originally came with the tool wasn't going to take out the scratches on the arbors.

It's really well made as well. You won't be disappointed! 

Thanks John, thats really good to know, the guy posted it first thing this morning. He must have been asked about the wheels before as they now come with both rough and fine finish.

[Tore]

3 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Thanks John, thats really good to know, the guy posted it first thing this morning. He must have been asked about the wheels before as they now come with both rough and fine finish.

I have a Pivofix, where you can burnish straight and conical (balance) pivots. I think you can do the same with this, by turn around the wheels.

[Neverenoughwatches]

57 minutes ago, Tore said:

I have a Pivofix, where you can burnish straight and conical (balance) pivots. I think you can do the same with this, by turn around the wheels.

Hi tore thank you,  yes i noticed the wheels have a square edge and a bevelled. Looking forward to it arriving next week. 

[Malocchio]

Oh well I had to buy one too lol. I've been looking at used Rollifits but they go for pretty high price. This looked like a nice bargain for a new item. I have a jacot tool and know how it operates but I haven't found much info on the Rollifit. Is there a manual available somewhere or tutorial videos or books or something? It is fairly simple machine but I'd like to check things like setup, maintenance and rotating speed. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

34 minutes ago, Malocchio said:

Oh well I had to buy one too lol. I've been looking at used Rollifits but they go for pretty high price. This looked like a nice bargain for a new item. I have a jacot tool and know how it operates but I haven't found much info on the Rollifit. Is there a manual available somewhere or tutorial videos or books or something? It is fairly simple machine but I'd like to check things like setup, maintenance and rotating speed. 

Haha the seller might owe Jon and me some commission then.

[Malocchio]

45 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Haha the seller might owe Jon and me some commission then.

At least expect a christmas card

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 minutes ago, Malocchio said:

At least expect a christmas card

I'll inform the seller that more orders are coming his way when i leave feedback for him. You never know, i wonder how tasty Hungarian chocolates are

[CYCLOPS]

if you are going to do a lot of re-pivoting this will be your go to, nice tool....

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, CYCLOPS said:

if you are going to do a lot of re-pivoting this will be your go to, nice tool....

Should be here this week, if its as good as I've been told i will be polishing and Repivoting every pivot that isn't nailed down.

[Neverenoughwatches]

My new toy has arrived, first impressions ? very nice very well made piece of kit for the price i paid. It came parcelled up for good protection, im a decent wooden box. Cant wait to try it and post some reviews,  but as it stands i am very happy with my purchase

[CaptainObvious]

Hi, new forum member here,

The discussion seems to have died, but I went ahead and bought one of these Hungarian contraptions. My verdict is that you get what you pay for. It's not brilliant, but a good start. The frame is solid if a bit light. I had to do a few modifications and I will still do a few more once I get around to it. The main issue was some serious wobble on the main shaft when adjusting it horizontally. Also the bearing fit was pretty loose. I made new tighter bushings, changed the entire horizontal adjustment system and replaced the shaft with a hardened precision ground shaft. Also the handle was pretty bad so I made a better one. I have contacted the maker about these mods so who knows if they'll change the machine in the future.

I shot a few videos as well but I'll have to upload them somewhere if there's any interest.

 

[tomh207]

There is always an interest here in tools and their use, especially video documentation.

 

Tom

[CaptainObvious]

32 minutes ago, tomh207 said:

There is always an interest here in tools and their use, especially video documentation.

 

Tom

OK then, I hope these links work. The videos are only visible through these links and they're not public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tomh207]

The links worked fine for me, thanks for this. A question, the wobble in the first video also shows a jump in the adjustment, was this poorly cut threads?

 

Tom

[CaptainObvious]

Just now, tomh207 said:

The links worked fine for me, thanks for this. A question, the wobble in the first video also shows a jump in the adjustment, was this poorly cut threads?

 

Tom

Yeah the threads are all over the place which causes the small ball bearing at the end of the knob to bind. There was a serious concentricity issue with the bore and the threads.

[Malocchio]

I had also a serious wobble issue so I eventually returned it. I decided not to post this in the first place in case it was only one bad piece but obviously there has been some manufacturing issues. The seller thought it had something to do with the wheels and sent me new ones but it didn't correct the wobble. It was somewhere in the shaft. So I got a refund and learned to use the burnisher, not really that hard after all.

 

[CaptainObvious]

The wobble is definitely not the only issue with the machine, but in my opinion the most significant one. 

So far my other modifications include re-machining the groove on the polishing wheel to resemble that of the Rollifit. In this machine the groove is square shaped and too narrow. The O-ring rides on the edges of the groove and slips easily. The face of the wheel was also way too coarse and there was a really weird edge where the two functional faces meet. I'll probably make new wheels from tungsten carbide.

The mounting of the wheel is also pretty rudimentary. Not great at all. I really don't understand why it was made the way it was, because the Rollifit is a fine example how to mount it properly. This is also on my modifications list. 

All of the bearings were too loose and I'll probably end up replacing the bushing on the wheel arm as well. The O-ring operating the Jacot tool runner is also way too tight, so that needs to be replaced too.

All that said, I knew what I was getting into with less than 300€.

[Neverenoughwatches]

I'm affraid I cant comment, I tried mine once when it arrived and have never needed it. I tend to do most polishing with eveflex pins. I will dig mine out now for a full inspection. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

Finally got around to an inspection of the pivot polisher. Same wobble in the burnishing roller, not as bad as in the video. Doesn't seem to have any play in the bearing, more to do with the machining of the roller itself.  But there is a major fault with the design of the roller burnishing faces, one edge is square for cylindrical pivots and the other edge has a chamfer for conical . Problem is the roller can't be reversed as bearing mount in the roller is too big and hits the wheel thats being worked . 

Edited February 18 by Neverenoughwatches