You have been an amazing force for me to meet. I have a love of clocks from my father who never really took me through a process like this. We also shared a love of boats. I am having so much fun learning with you. Thank you. I have 3 wall clocks with carved wooden cases that I inherited and look forward to finding a video that might help me. I am 80 yrs old and would love to at least start soon!!
I foundvthis post from a recent NAWCC Forum post: The "Boston" ship "strike" is a cheaper version marketed by Chelsea. I think there are still clocks made by Chelsea on the market under "Chelsea" and ships "bell" that have genuine Chelsea movements and are more expensive. The Hermle 132-041 movement is actually the same that Hermle uses in the Hermle "Royal Mariner" clock.
Nice work. I just cleaned and oiled my Chelsea Shipstrike that my dad bought in the early 70s, the movement looks exactly the same, only difference is instead of Boston on the face it says Chelsea. Mine started running very fast, a few of the very small pinion gears near the escapement had some black gunk on them, didn't want to tear it down completely so just went in with small brushes and cleaned off each gear and pinion. I am quite sure my dad never had it cleaned, so this was the first time in about 50 years it had been opened. It's been a few weeks and it's back to keeping perfect time. Getting those 3 screws in while putting it back together was a bit of a challenge.
I have a beautiful Chelsea ship's wheel style clock and barometer set manufactured in 1972. The casings are made from brass and the ship's wheel rim is bronze. I asked Chelsea to give me some advice about cleaning and polishing. Their answer was "We don’t recommend any cleaners regardless finish as underneath it is all solid brass. Clean rag and pledge only."
Likely replaced movement , used to be the house made Bell's movement which is hefty solid brass parts, they still make them and cost double the lesser quality German Strike movement, thank you very much for the informative video.
Thank you for the demo of brass restoration. The Hermle movement is definitely much lower quality. My 1926 Chelsea Neptune is still going strong with 300+ degree amplitude on the escape wheel; my 18 year old Hermle ship's strike already needs a replacement of the plastic (!) escapement. Hermle did actually recognise its mistake in making a plastic escapement and has made a 17 jewel replacement, but the replacement part is sold anywhere from 25-100% of the cost of a new clock. I found a $50 3rd party version on ebay, but it has yet to arrive. At least the escapement platform is very easy to replace, just two screws. Your Hermle probably has an all metal and jewelled escapement platform, I doubt if Chelsea would put up with plastic.
This is an older post but I'll take a shot at leaving a question. First, excellent description of how you approached the restoration, very complete. Did you consider some form of brass lacquer as a finish instead of the wax? That would have restored the case finish to look more like the original, which has a more "golden" look to it instead of a polished brass.
My clock that is exactly like the one in the video only dings 2 times at the top of every hour and 1 ding at the half hour point. I cannot figure out why...any clues/suggestions?
These clocks have a rack lever mechanism that drops into position about 5 minutes before the strike. If something is preventing the rack from droping, this is exactly what you will get. At the half hour, an arresting piece prevents the second ding of the final double ding. The rack mechanism is behind the dial. The hour hand of the Ships Strike movement is like most clock movements, but if you have a Ships Bell movement DO NOT try to remove the hour hand. On the Ships Bell movement the hour hand comes off with the dial. You only have to remove the minute hand, which is held by a screw, not a nut. Now you can observe the strike mechanism and see what is holding up the dropping of the rack lever.
I have one of these with the same movement (132-041). Is there a serial number on these and if so, where is it. Thanks in advance. Great video. Clock came out wonderful for the amount of corrosion it had.
Hello, I also have the same clock with same movement (and same number). From what I was told, they did not put serial numbers on these. The only number I have is stamped on the back of the case is "90" which I was also told it the year it was made. No other ways to identify.
You are correct. I emailed Chelsea Clock and they responded with the same info you have. It’s basically a cheaper movement than an actual Chelsea Clock movement and they aren’t serialized. Thanks for getting back to me.
Set incorrectly. Two bells is 1:00, 5:00, 9:00 o'clock. Chelsea offered the cheaper "Boston" Shipstrike (Hermle) movements from around 1972-1992 in the same cases as the Chelsea's own Ship Bell movement.
I believe the video correctly shows the bell arrangement as you describe - every full hour is a double bell, and the half adds a single bell. The video appears to me to be correct both in the beginning where I describe the sequence fully and at the end where I reattach the hands. Thanks for your date information.
Very nice video, and a very beautiful clock! I got a Chelsea ship strike clock in the mail yesterday. It is 8 years old, I was told. It's absolutely beautiful and is keeping perfect time. The only problem is, something has happened to the silencer tab. Something has come loose or out of alignment and no matter whether I have it on silent or Bell I get no sound. I can hear the hammer moving but it is not striking the coil. Have you any idea what I might try to fix it? Many thanks.
Looks better than it did before - that's for sure. Too bad Chelsea is not putting their in house movement in the 41/2 and 6 inch Chelsea Ship's Bells anymore. The 8 inch still has a Chelsea movement.
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking - if you have corrosion like I had, then no - I would not recommend going to the level of abrasion that I used. My clock is solid brass; your clock is likely nickel-plated brass, so any significant polishing is going to wear through the nickel plating. Brass can be re-plated, but that would be a bit of a project. Renaissance wax would be no problem on the nickel - it is pretty inert stuff that won't hurt anything.
Great job on this restoration! Regarding the movement, I believe that the Chelsea Shipstrike clock has the Hermle movement, while the Chelsea Ship's Bell clock has the movement made by Chelsea. The clocks are similar and do the same things, just the movements are different. ruclips.net/video/9MtTY1oactg/видео.html
Thanks for the info and the compliment. This one is definitely the Hermle. I don't know how long Hermle has been making movements. The case on this one was crusty enough that I suspect it's fairly old, but the movement could be a replacement.
Lol - did you see the corrosion when I started? What finish do you think was still there to have been 'destroyed'? A buffing wheel is just really slow sandpaper. There are different final finish choices you can make based on taste, but the path to get to clean brass requires abrasion.
@@MinnesotaClocksandWatches I just finished one in worse shape than yours. I used a buffing wheel with black compound followed with red compound and Nevr-dull. Shinny, mirror like finish. Not a "brushed " finish like yours. After twenty year in the Navy I think I know what polished brass should look like. But hey, your choice.
You have been an amazing force for me to meet. I have a love of clocks from my father who never really took me through a process like this. We also shared a love of boats. I am having so much fun learning with you. Thank you. I have 3 wall clocks with carved wooden cases that I inherited and look forward to finding a video that might help me. I am 80 yrs old and would love to at least start soon!!
I own this clock from about 1990 it needs service and so does the matching beromiter...great vid sir
Great video. Very informative and I learned a lot from watching it. Thank you.
I foundvthis post from a recent NAWCC Forum post: The "Boston" ship "strike" is a cheaper version marketed by Chelsea. I think there are still clocks made by Chelsea on the market under "Chelsea" and ships "bell" that have genuine Chelsea movements and are more expensive. The Hermle 132-041 movement is actually the same that Hermle uses in the Hermle "Royal Mariner" clock.
Nice work.
I just cleaned and oiled my Chelsea Shipstrike that my dad bought in the early 70s, the movement looks exactly the same, only difference is instead of Boston on the face it says Chelsea.
Mine started running very fast, a few of the very small pinion gears near the escapement had some black gunk on them, didn't want to tear it down completely so just went in with small brushes and cleaned off each gear and pinion. I am quite sure my dad never had it cleaned, so this was the first time in about 50 years it had been opened. It's been a few weeks and it's back to keeping perfect time.
Getting those 3 screws in while putting it back together was a bit of a challenge.
Thanks for that datapoint. That's interesting. It's a Chelsea-branded Hermle movement - I'm not sure when Chelsea started using them.
I have a beautiful Chelsea ship's wheel style clock and barometer set manufactured in 1972. The casings are made from brass and the ship's wheel rim is bronze. I asked Chelsea to give me some advice about cleaning and polishing. Their answer was "We don’t recommend any cleaners regardless finish as underneath it is all solid brass. Clean rag and pledge only."
Likely replaced movement , used to be the house made Bell's movement which is hefty solid brass parts, they still make them and cost double the lesser quality German Strike movement, thank you very much for the informative video.
Thank you for the demo of brass restoration.
The Hermle movement is definitely much lower quality. My 1926 Chelsea Neptune is still going strong with 300+ degree amplitude on the escape wheel; my 18 year old Hermle ship's strike already needs a replacement of the plastic (!) escapement. Hermle did actually recognise its mistake in making a plastic escapement and has made a 17 jewel replacement, but the replacement part is sold anywhere from 25-100% of the cost of a new clock. I found a $50 3rd party version on ebay, but it has yet to arrive. At least the escapement platform is very easy to replace, just two screws.
Your Hermle probably has an all metal and jewelled escapement platform, I doubt if Chelsea would put up with plastic.
Agreed. This clock isn't up to the quality of a full-fledged Chelsea.
This is an older post but I'll take a shot at leaving a question. First, excellent description of how you approached the restoration, very complete. Did you consider some form of brass lacquer as a finish instead of the wax? That would have restored the case finish to look more like the original, which has a more "golden" look to it instead of a polished brass.
Brass lacquer is another option, for sure.
My clock that is exactly like the one in the video only dings 2 times at the top of every hour and 1 ding at the half hour point. I cannot figure out why...any clues/suggestions?
These clocks have a rack lever mechanism that drops into position about 5 minutes before the strike. If something is preventing the rack from droping, this is exactly what you will get. At the half hour, an arresting piece prevents the second ding of the final double ding. The rack mechanism is behind the dial. The hour hand of the Ships Strike movement is like most clock movements, but if you have a Ships Bell movement DO NOT try to remove the hour hand. On the Ships Bell movement the hour hand comes off with the dial. You only have to remove the minute hand, which is held by a screw, not a nut. Now you can observe the strike mechanism and see what is holding up the dropping of the rack lever.
I have one of these with the same movement (132-041). Is there a serial number on these and if so, where is it. Thanks in advance. Great video. Clock came out wonderful for the amount of corrosion it had.
Hello, I also have the same clock with same movement (and same number). From what I was told, they did not put serial numbers on these. The only number I have is stamped on the back of the case is "90" which I was also told it the year it was made. No other ways to identify.
You are correct. I emailed Chelsea Clock and they responded with the same info you have. It’s basically a cheaper movement than an actual Chelsea Clock movement and they aren’t serialized. Thanks for getting back to me.
Set incorrectly. Two bells is 1:00, 5:00, 9:00 o'clock.
Chelsea offered the cheaper "Boston" Shipstrike (Hermle) movements from around 1972-1992 in the same cases as the Chelsea's own Ship Bell movement.
I believe the video correctly shows the bell arrangement as you describe - every full hour is a double bell, and the half adds a single bell. The video appears to me to be correct both in the beginning where I describe the sequence fully and at the end where I reattach the hands.
Thanks for your date information.
Very nice video, and a very beautiful clock! I got a Chelsea ship strike clock in the mail yesterday. It is 8 years old, I was told. It's absolutely beautiful and is keeping perfect time. The only problem is, something has happened to the silencer tab. Something has come loose or out of alignment and no matter whether I have it on silent or Bell I get no sound. I can hear the hammer moving but it is not striking the coil. Have you any idea what I might try to fix it? Many thanks.
@@Wisdom-Nuggets-Tid-Bits thank you so much. I was able to adjust it myself and now it's working fine. I hope you like your new clock!
Looks better than it did before - that's for sure.
Too bad Chelsea is not putting their in house movement in the 41/2 and 6 inch Chelsea Ship's Bells anymore. The 8 inch still has a Chelsea movement.
very nice clock
Great video. I have a 15 year old Chelsea Shipstrike in nickel. Would that polish and wax work on nickel too?
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking - if you have corrosion like I had, then no - I would not recommend going to the level of abrasion that I used. My clock is solid brass; your clock is likely nickel-plated brass, so any significant polishing is going to wear through the nickel plating. Brass can be re-plated, but that would be a bit of a project.
Renaissance wax would be no problem on the nickel - it is pretty inert stuff that won't hurt anything.
Thanks good work.
Дякую вам за працю 😊❤
How can I send you some pics of my lovely master clocks please ?
Hello Shane - reach me through my website minnesotaclocks.com. Fill out the contact form and I will reach out.
Bravo!!
Nice...
Great job on this restoration! Regarding the movement, I believe that the Chelsea Shipstrike clock has the Hermle movement, while the Chelsea Ship's Bell clock has the movement made by Chelsea. The clocks are similar and do the same things, just the movements are different.
ruclips.net/video/9MtTY1oactg/видео.html
Thanks for the info and the compliment. This one is definitely the Hermle. I don't know how long Hermle has been making movements. The case on this one was crusty enough that I suspect it's fairly old, but the movement could be a replacement.
Too bad you destroyed the finish. This is why buffing wheels were invented.
Lol - did you see the corrosion when I started? What finish do you think was still there to have been 'destroyed'? A buffing wheel is just really slow sandpaper. There are different final finish choices you can make based on taste, but the path to get to clean brass requires abrasion.
@@MinnesotaClocksandWatches I just finished one in worse shape than yours. I used a buffing wheel with black compound followed with red compound and Nevr-dull. Shinny, mirror like finish. Not a "brushed " finish like yours. After twenty year in the Navy I think I know what polished brass should look like. But hey, your choice.
@@TM1Alan if I had you in my ship’s engineering division, I’d have a name tape sewn onto your coveralls with “troll” 😂
@@TM1AlanI would be interested in you detailing your process. I think this clock looks pretty good.
@@TM1Alanwhere’s your vid?