You wait for ages, then 2 come alone

tmuir · Jul 20, 2009

I've been trying to get a second hand pivot file off ebay for about 2 1/2 months now but I kept getting outbid on them.
The other night 2 were finishing at the same time.
About 8 hours before they finished I had a big lightning storm approach my house so I quickly pleased a reasonable bid on one and a lower bid on the second and shut my PC down and went to bed.

So of course the next morning I woke to find I had managed to win both of them. :big:
Thankfully they are both from the same seller and have been packaged together to save postage. I'm hoping one is a left handed and the other a right handed file else I will be keeping the best one and selling the other.

Didn't really need two but combined they still cost me less than half of one new pivot file.

Its all part of the fun of ebay.

Kermit · Jul 20, 2009

pivot file ???

I knew it wouldn't take long at this forum tonight to come across something I had never heard of before. ;D

Books, books, books, where'd I put those books?

Kermit

shred · Jul 20, 2009

Yeah, ask me about how I have two big vises now

Put in a decent bid on one and a lowball on the other. Both hit. The eBay selection seems down lately but some deals can be had the way the machining economy is going.

tmuir · Jul 21, 2009

Kermit said:
pivot file ???

I knew it wouldn't take long at this forum tonight to come across something I had never heard of before. ;D

Books, books, books, where'd I put those books?
Kermit

Its a clock making tool.
Double ended.
One end is an ultra fine file for smoothing out the pivots on arbours for wheels (gears to non clock people) and the other side is for burnishing / swaging the pivot after filing to work harden it, although you need to 'make' the burnisher before using it by drawing it across 120 grit emery paper.
Now I need to make Jacot drum, Bow arbor holding ferrule and filing rest before I can use it though. :big:

Here is one of the pivot files I bought.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=120448149645

miker · Jul 21, 2009

And I thought they were for cleaning the battery Contacts in REAL clocks.

Rgds

rake60 · Jul 21, 2009

That happened to me once.

Being an antique engine collector, I was determined to add
a rare model to the garage. I placed reasonable bids on two
of them with the auctions ending 5 minutes apart.
I won both of them. One is still in my garage.
The other I refurbished to running condition and placed back
on the auction block.
It's resale paid for a new 9 X 20 lathe for the hobby shop.

Rick