Striking Ships Bell Clocks

[VO5]

WD40 is a menace in delicate mechanisms as I discovered many years ago when the speedo on my Triumph 650 was sticking. After application of WD40 it never read accurately again.

I was told that WD40 was never intended as a lubricant.
Apparently the chap who created it had been given a different brief.
He succeeded at the 40th attempt to create a water dispersant. That is why it is called WD40 (water dispersant 40).
I am not sure if this is truth or legend, but that was the explanation I was given.

 

[VO5]

Well, done - it must have been very satisfying.

Just out of interest, why is the striking mechanism any more complex than a standard one? I'd have thought the usual method with a count-wheel would be able to cope with the pattern of ships-bells - the count-wheel would just be cut with a different pattern than the usual 1-12 pattern.

There was a ships-bell chiming clock on my Dad's Halcyon 27, Peristella.

It is my experience, by the way, that if you live with chiming clocks, you soon simply don't hear them!

Because there are intermediate bells, therefore there are two hammers on some movement and one hammer (called a compound hammer) on others.
The whole mechanism is driven by a barrel amd mainspring assembly in harmony with the driving train (which is the timekeeping function)and depends on sequential performance on the snail whose function it is to prepare the hammer / hammers for striking using a complex combination of fly, rack, arm, etc.,

You are right about noises. When I first lived in London the district line was yards from my window. After having been in those digs for three or four weeks I no longer was conscious of the trains rattling by.

 

[VO5]

This thread reminds me of my only encounter with clock repairs.

Whilst working for the local authority engineer's department, one of my responsibilities was the upkeep and maintenance of public clocks. I was asked to arrange for the refurbishment of a small clock that had been out of action for many years. One thing that was needed was a new pendulum, the original having somehow disappeared. I placed the work in the hands of a local watch and clock repair man.

The given date for the completion passed, and several more weeks also. I eventually ran out of patience and demanded to know what the problem was.

"I've made a new pendulum, but I'm having trouble getting it (the clock) to run to time. I'm adding weights to the bottom of the pendulum but I can't seem to get it heavy enough"

I asked if the new pendulum was actually long enough?

"It's not the length that matters - it's the weight of the pendulum bob - that's why we add more weight to make it run slower"

I tried to explain that adding weight to the end only works up to a point, by effectively moving the centre of gravity further from the pivot - but it can't succeed if the pendulum isn't long enough in the first place. He wasn't having any of it though, and accused me of trying to tell him his job. I had to place the work elsewhere in the end.

Just goes to show, old craftsmen don't always know all the answers.

Yes it is quite a complex topic. It is the first of all the engineering sciences. Everything in mechanical engineering derives from clockmaking, whose correct nomenclature is the Science of Horology, as none of it is hit and miss.

There are formulae determining the length and weight of pendulums that have been derived and calculated since Huygens invented the Recoil Anchor Escapement, driven by a pendulum attached by a flexible steel spring rivetted to the anchor itself and constrained by the Fourchette or Fork, acting on an eascape wheel, which is the tick TOCK, tickl TOCK that you hear when in proximity to a grandfather clock.

Then the spring length and the pendulum length and the weight of the bob at the bottom whose adjustment is made by a knurled nut and screw is subject to calculation.

You would have been better off consulting a practising horologist specialising in long case clocks, as cutting and fitting pendulums is a niche skill.

 

[VO5]

Not to mention training that must have lasted 3 or more years - priceless!

Its actually six.
Then there is the academic side, history, theory, principles etc., and then there is the practical side making parts, springwork, tools, etc., correct to 1/500th of a mil for submission for examination and marking. Then there are exams. Then affiliation to a craftsman. Then specialisation. Then perhaps independent practice.

I did 16 years of classical watchmaking but gave up owing to failing eyesight.

I specialised in restoration of collectable vintage wristwatches both gents and ladies including those tiny tiny ladies wristwatches from the 20's and 30's you see in platinum cases and straps encrusted with diamonds.

I used to cut, make, finish, polish and fit screws, pinions, winding stems, balance staffs, springs, castle wheels, levers, train wheels, barrels, arbors...setting springs, hairsprings, timing, rating, casework (to take out dents) etc., endless...mind boggling...

Some of the work was so small, (machining etc.,) it had to be done via a stereoscopic microscope just to be able to see it....and the patience...limitless...

So nowadays the engine room I call the elephant room as to me a marine engine and its components seems just as big by comparison....

 

[VO5]

I had allowed the striking mechanism to run until unwound, thinking it was best for the mechanism not to be under tension. But had not considered that it should be activated sometimes. Thank you for that very sensible suggestion. I shall wind and enable when leaving the boat for longer than eight days (the approximate winding requirement) next year.

Jolly good ! That.s the way to do it.

Think of a car....left in the garage for yonks....then you want to start it and roar away ...not a good idea izzit ?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Its actually six.
Then there is the academic side, history, theory, principles etc., and then there is the practical side making parts, springwork, tools, etc., correct to 1/500th of a mil for submission for examination and marking. Then there are exams. Then affiliation to a craftsman. Then specialisation. Then perhaps independent practice.

I did 16 years of classical watchmaking but gave up owing to failing eyesight.

I specialised in restoration of collectable vintage wristwatches both gents and ladies including those tiny tiny ladies wristwatches from the 20's and 30's you see in platinum cases and straps encrusted with diamonds.

I used to cut, make, finish, polish and fit screws, pinions, winding stems, balance staffs, springs, castle wheels, levers, train wheels, barrels, arbors...setting springs, hairsprings, timing, rating, casework (to take out dents) etc., endless...mind boggling...

Some of the work was so small, (machining etc.,) it had to be done via a stereoscopic microscope just to be able to see it....and the patience...limitless...

So nowadays the engine room I call the elephant room as to me a marine engine and its components seems just as big by comparison....

RESPECT! I admire horologists a lot, and love clocks (the clock gallery is my favourite in the British museum). I usually wear mechanical automatic watches (not on boats the ones I can afford are too delicate). And I like skeleton movements where I can see the movement!

One pipe dream would be to have a turret clock of my very own. I know someone who has a couple! If ever our local church decide to replace the current Victorian movement with something electrical, I'll volunteer to rehouse it!

 

[VO5]

Now for my next project I am going to give the two barometers a seeing to...

One is a mercury banjo type we inherited.

A banjo barometer has a U shaped glass filled with mercury. The mercury remains in it because the piping is inverted. Therefore changes in Barometric Pressure cause the mercury to sag or lift as the end of the tube contains effectively a vacuum. When the mercury rises it acts upon a little glass slide that neatly fits into the end of the tube.

This little glass slide is fastened to a very fine silk thread that is wound round a wheel to which is rivetted the hand that rotates around the dial indicating changes. The other end of the thread is fastened to another glass slide that acts as a counterweight thus maintaining the hands in a state of neutral balance. The dial is marked in inches. The Meteorological Office were very helpful and have provided me with a conversion chart from inches to millibars.

Inches is the older 18th and 19th century measurement for barometric pressure.

Tomorrow night the banjo will be dismantled and put into order on the dining room table. SWMBO has not been told yet.

I will report on progress if you are interested.

The other one is an Aneroid Barometer.

This one contains a small reticulated circular vacuumised metal bellows. When the pressure drops it swells and when it increases it is squashed.
This movement is transmitted to the needle by a linkage of delicate little linked levers.
Both of these are tricky delicate operations.

I will post progress on both if you are interested.

SWMBO is a brick really...she puts up with it all...can be relied upon to keep cups of tea on stream and to be called urgently to hold something or other when needed..."training"...you see...."training"......There is no subtitute for training..

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Now for my next project I am going to give the two barometers a seeing to...

One is a mercury banjo type we inherited.

A banjo barometer has a U shaped glass filled with mercury. The mercury remains in it because the piping is inverted. Therefore changes in Barometric Pressure cause the mercury to sag or lift as the end of the tube contains effectively a vacuum. When the mercury rises it acts upon a little glass slide that neatly fits into the end of the tube.

This little glass slide is fastened to a very fine silk thread that is wound round a wheel to which is rivetted the hand that rotates around the dial indicating changes. The other end of the thread is fastened to another glass slide that acts as a counterweight thus maintaining the hands in a state of neutral balance. The dial is marked in inches. The Meteorological Office were very helpful and have provided me with a conversion chart from inches to millibars.

Inches is the older 18th and 19th century measurement for barometric pressure.

Tomorrow night the banjo will be dismantled and put into order on the dining room table. SWMBO has not been told yet.

I will report on progress if you are interested.

The other one is an Aneroid Barometer.

This one contains a small reticulated circular vacuumised metal bellows. When the pressure drops it swells and when it increases it is squashed.
This movement is transmitted to the needle by a linkage of delicate little linked levers.
Both of these are tricky delicate operations.

I will post progress on both if you are interested.

SWMBO is a brick really...she puts up with it all...can be relied upon to keep cups of tea on stream and to be called urgently to hold something or other when needed..."training"...you see...."training"......There is no subtitute for training..

I hesitate to potentially teach my grandmother to suck eggs, but you are aware that mercury is VERY poisonous? It causes nerve damage and is the source for the phrase "Mad as a hatter" - hatters used mercury to shape the edge of the felt used in hats, and so accumulated mercury in their bodies.

No doubt the fact that I was responsible for managing a mercury still in a very old-fashioned lab a long time ago will explain a lot to the denizens of these fora!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Now for my next project I am going to give the two barometers a seeing to...
The other one is an Aneroid Barometer.

This one contains a small reticulated circular vacuumised metal bellows. When the pressure drops it swells and when it increases it is squashed.
This movement is transmitted to the needle by a linkage of delicate little linked levers.
Both of these are tricky delicate operations.

Probably comes into the sucking eggs category, but having dismantled a broken aneroid barometer, I wasn't expecting to find a strong strip of sprung metal pinned against the chamber. Fortunately it only hit me on the hand when it shot out, and missed anything more delicate, like the Missus.

 

[MASH]

I'm with Binch. Why why isn't there a clock (electronic or mechanical) that sounds the Dog watches?

My quartz one goes clanging on from 5 bells to eight in the 2nd dog so I switched it off, but miss it the rest of the time.

 

[VO5]

RESPECT! I admire horologists a lot, and love clocks (the clock gallery is my favourite in the British museum). I usually wear mechanical automatic watches (not on boats the ones I can afford are too delicate). And I like skeleton movements where I can see the movement!

One pipe dream would be to have a turret clock of my very own. I know someone who has a couple! If ever our local church decide to replace the current Victorian movement with something electrical, I'll volunteer to rehouse it!

Turret clocks are a marvel. Some of them have bronze wheelwork. If you get it and dismantle for overhaul then clean the wheelwork first with very soft wire wool to get the crud off. Then immerse in a cleaner called Horolene diluted 1 in 2 with water for 48 hours. then scrub clean with a toothbrush or a nailbrush. They will sparkle !

I am going to recommend a mechanical wristwatch you can wear afloat.

It is essentially a Pilot's Wriswatch.

It is made by Fortis. Not expensive. Self winding, calendar display.

It has a black dial, arabic numerals (fluorescent) (You can brighten them at night on watch by shining a torch briefly on them, eyes closed of course) Stainless Steel case, flat glass, webbing straps. The crown is waterproof.
It is very presentable, you can wear it if you are wearing a suit or a blazer and no one will hit you over the head for it.

Don't buy it in the UK. UK prices are a ripoff. Find it on the internet, US is a good source. I have one. I wear it all the time in preference to my Rolex Submariner which has the disadvantage of not only being heavy and a bit clumsy but also expensive watches nowadays attract unwanted attention.

I learnt this lesson when I lived in London, in Chelsea.

I used to have a pink gold Rolex Day Date with a Presidential Strap. I nearly got killed by two Black Rolex Thieves who were determined to have it.

The police proved to be useless in either apprehending the felons or in recovering my property. So never again.

Many yachtsmen are unaware they are percieved as fair game if according to the warped perception of crooks "they are showing off", which is not true, but we live in uncertain times so it is best to be prudent.