I Restored And Repaired This Antique Ship Compass

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I restored this old ship compass. The compass was not working because there was no fluid in it and it was very dirty and patinated. Also the paint was in bad condition and some of the screws needed to be replaced.

Only issue I encountered during the disassembly was the empty bottom piece being stuck so I had to use a hammer and a screw driver to release it. I think the bottom is there to act as a weight. to keep the compass level.

I often clean up brass with ketchup. This time I wanted to try electrolysis. I had never tried it on brass but there was no risk of permanent damage. Good thing about electrolysis is that I can leave it just running and come back later and it will remove both oxidation and paint. However something unexpected happened. The wire I used was zinc plated and I didn't realize the zinc could dissolve and move on the brass. I'm unsure what caused the reaction but I think it could be electroless plating, a method of metal plating which doesn't require electricity. Luckily I forgot to clean one of the pieces so I could still demonstrate a successful cleaning process. When you are using electrolysis for cleaning it doesn't matter too much what current and voltage you use. More means faster reaction (but obviously don't use mains electricity) But if you hook the cables the wrong way around your parts will be destroyed.

Zinc plating was not an issue because the steel wires were only zinc plated. Such tiny amount of zinc spread on the whole surface area of the parts is not thick enough to last a polishing. I used my restored buffing wheel to polish the parts and then I used car polishing compound in tight spots to polish the metal and remove the layer of zinc.

The dial of the compass would have been a pain to disassemble as there were nails piercing the dial sheet and they were soldered on the body. Only issue with the dial was the paint. I tried to use acetone and paint thinner but the paint was not dissolving easily so I sanded it off. In hindsight, I probably could have used electrolysis for this as well because it will anyways sit in a liquid in the compass so it's unlikely that the dial would be somehow damaged in the process. I then painted the dial and the inside of the compass with an "antique white" color. It has a slightly greenish tint even though because of the hard contrast it might look snow white.

The screws on the top were damaged so I made new ones from some larger brass screws. The top of the screws were too wide but with a simple customization I was able to make new ones. All the other screws were cleaned and polished so they could be reused.

During the disassembly I filled the compass with alcohol solution so it won't freeze. In reality it took me quite some time to get rid of all the tiny bubbles but I've worked with filling medical IV syringes manually so I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Someone might say there has to be a bubble to see the compass is level, but the glass is completely flat and on a ship it will never stay so level the bubble would be in the middle of the flat glass.

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Tools used in this video :

Other tools:

MY FILMING GEAR:

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[FKruger]

This is a old compass from H. Iversen Optisk Forretning. The company was located in Trondheim, Norway, and marked its compasses with "T.Hjem". The early compasses made by H. Iversen was named "Neptun". The compass must be from before 1919, since they separated out the compass business that year and discontinued using the name "Neptun". Great video, thanks!

[victorlaiviera]

From a Compass Adjuster/repairer of 40 years' experience:

The screw that "you never found the purpose of" (@ 10:57) is actually the most important part of the compass. Under it there is a sits a jewel (like a watch jewel) which sits on the central pivot to make sure the compass card can rotate freely. Both the jewel and the pivot point should have been changed as part of the overhaul.

A ships compass is never polished. They are always painted a MATT grey or black to avoid glare and sun reflections

[ivarwb]

Nice! This compass was produced by the company H. Iversen, founded 1869 in Trondhjem/Trondheim, Norway. They still exist (under a different name though) selling optics like glasses and binoculars

[flathan]

Thank you! Finally somebody is doing this the right way, most people forget the rubber duck.

[nightlock]

”adding salt to the water to increase conductivity”
Compass: ahh this is familiar territory

[finnebean]

Watching these reminds me of in grade school when a kid gave me a broken mechanical pencil and I fixed it then he wanted it back.
Edit: According to the court of law (the teacher), he had given ownership unto me, thus the mechanical pencil was therefore mine. I wasn't about to give that thing up. Lmao.

[ApostleXlll]

Using the mounted drill and file to modify the screws was genius. Well done.

[nameredacted]

I like these videos....no talking, no atrocious music, just a man doing his work

[bauzrickie]

This might be my new favourite thing to do on youtube, watch this dude just cleaning and fixing stuff, so satisfying omg

[sans.]

*you have everything linked in the description except the liquid ice. where can i find this magnificent liquid?

[kimsaarikoski]

The screw in the middle of the compassrose is a bearing. There should be a jewel under the screw. (Like a clock)

[ItsAthenaa_]

14:55 Can we just respect him how he cut that screw with the power of his hands and a tool?

[arekusu.]

Next episode: Rusty Cruise Liner Restoration to go with my restored compass

[ChickenJoe]

those "worn" screws are actually a specific screw type made for naval and aircraft vehicles, they are designed to prevent overtorque by "camming" the head out of the recess

[meowkasey]

a pirate from the past is looking down on you with a single tear of joy rolling down his cheek

[PomegranatePomPom]

Everybody else : *Buy new screws*

Odd Tinkering : *Makes his screws smaller*

[jehjah]

there’s something super satisfying seeing a screw that’s been still for decades get uscrewed.

[curly]

It's amazing what WD40 and a high torque screwdriver till do to loosen tight screws etc. So good to see how electrolysis and polishing restored the compass' brass components. That levelling system is called a gimbal. It can be used for stoves in small vessels too. Great restoration work. Congratulations.

[eloisan]

I love the duck, thank you for including it

[HippyTribeCircle]

Never seen this one. Always amazed at how you can fix an antique then go and fix something modern. One of my favorites channels. I might send you something to fix lol