...it seems I oftentimes need a staff of a particular cat. no. w/a smaller pivot...I'd appreciate knowing the best way one goes about reducing say a .14 staff pivot to a .12?.....thanks for any input...

Jim,

A good friend introduced me to a jasper stone. With the aid of a balance chuck, you can use one of these stones to reduce the pivot size. It doesn't polish that well but there are other mild abraisves to perform that. Just be careful that you leave yourself enough material to polish. It's easy to make the pivot too small.

...thanks J.D...am looking for some 'jasper stone'...appreciate your help...