Tool Tales

Recently, I’ve been learning how to repair antique clocks under the guidance of clock expert Bob Frishman. When assembling a clock, there are many axles with pivots on the end that must be fitted within the holes in the clock’s plates. It is one of those jobs that seems to require ten hands. A pivot locator is a long, thin tool used to gently nudge the pivots into place. You can buy them, but I’ve come to love the one shown here. It’s handmade, but not by me.

The first car I remember my parents owning was a 1977 Chevrolet station wagon—blue, with fake wood paneling on the sides. A few months after buying the car, Dad reports, something within the passenger-side rear compartment wall, near the spare tire stowage, began to rattle. Soon, the noise irritated him enough that he disassembled the interior paneling to find and silence it.