There are several little tools on the market used for making the necessary measurements, but we will describe a very simple one which can readily be made. To do so, take about a No. 5 sewing needle and, after annealing, cut a screw thread on it, as shown at Fig, 172, where E represents the needle and t t the screw cut upon it. After the screw is cut, the needle is again hardened and tempered to a spring temper and a long, thin pivot turned upon it. The needle is now shaped as shown at Fig. 173. The pivot at s should be small enough to go easily through the smallest hole jewel to be found in cylinder watches, and should be about 1/16" long. The part at r should be about 3/16" long and only reduced in size enough to fully remove the screw threads shown at t.
We next provide a sleeve or guard for our gage. To do this we take a piece of hard brass bushing wire about 1/2" long and, placing it in a wire chuck, center and drill it nearly the entire length, leaving, say, 1/10" at one end to be carried through with a small drill. We show at F, Fig. 174, a magnified longitudinal section of such a sleeve. The piece F is drilled from the end l up to the line q with a drill of such a size that a female screw can be cut in it to fit the screw on the needle, and F is tapped out to fit such a screw from l up to the dotted line p. The sleeve F is run on the screw t and now appears as shown at Fig. 175, with the addition of a handle shown at G G'. It is evident that we can allow the pivot s to protrude from the sleeve F any portion of its length, and regulate such protrusion by the screw t. To employ this tool for getting the proper length to which to cut the pivot y, Fig. 171, we remove the lower cap jewel to the cylinder pivot and, holding, the movement in the left hand, pass the pivot s, Fig. 175, up through the hole jewel, regulate the length by turning the sleeve F until the arm of the escape wheel I, Fig. 176, will just turn free over it. Now the length of the pivot s, which protrudes beyond the sleeve F, coincides with the length to which we must cut the pivot y, Fig. 171. To hold a cylinder for reducing the length of the pivot y, we hold said pivot in a pair of thin-edged cutting pliers, as shown at Fig. 177, where N N' represent the jaws of a pair of cutting pliers and y the pivot to be cut. The measurement is made by putting the pivot s between the jaws N N' as they hold the pivot. The cutting is done by simply filing back the pivot until of the right length.
TURNING THE PIVOTS.
We have now the pivot y of the proper length, and what remains to be done is to turn it to the right size. We do not think it advisable to try to use a split chuck, although we have seen workmen drive the shell A A''' out of the collet D and then turn up the pivots y z in said wire chuck. To our judgment there is but one chuck for turning pivots, and this is the cement chuck provided with all American lathes. Many workmen object to a cement chuck, but we think no man should lay claim to the name of watchmaker until he masters the mystery of the cement chuck. It is not such a very difficult matter, and the skill once acquired would not be parted with cheaply. One thing has served to put the wax or cement chuck into disfavor, and that is the abominable stuff sold by some material houses for lathe cement. The original cement, made and patented by James Bottum for his cement chuck, was made up of a rather complicated mixture; but all the substances really demanded in such cement are ultramarine blue and a good quality of shellac. These ingredients are compounded in the proportion of 8 parts of shellac and 1 part of ultramarine—all by weight.