Making a Sundial - Materials suggestions needed (might be slightly OT)

[emma]

Dear All,

I have decided to make a vertical sundial to go on a directly south facing but unattractive garage wall. I have found loads of resources on the net for the calculations I'll need, but I'm struggling to decide on what material to use. Wood would be easy but I'm going for longevity here - was thinking laser cut stainless steel but thats going to be expensive - budget is about =A3100 for say a 40cmx40cm dial. Anyone got any ideas for materials? Photo etched copper? Brass plate to my design? Glass etched to my design?Anyone got any experience of making something like this? I can solder so could do copper with brass rods for the delination lines and fine some small brass numbers somewhere..Ideas much appreciated.

Emma

[Thomas Prufer]

If you want to get ambitious, you can cast aluminum:

's more on the diy casting process, follow the third icon on the bottom.

Thomas Prufer

[Guy King]

The message from "emma" contains these words:

Bit of brass sheet. Draw the design, tracing through a printout if you like, then pierce with small drills etc and file to shape. If you just want a design without perforations, you can drill part-way and finish off with sharp things.

Experiment on scrap first!

[The Natural Philosopher]

Friend of mine found somewhere to screen print onto a glazed ceramic tile which was then fired..

Another possibility is to make up - using e.g. polystyrene strip, sheet and rod, a'female' mould and cast a cement image from it.

[wattie]

Sundial, reminds of my mate taking his apprentice joiner to build a hut in a back garden. The owner had a large stone sundial in the centre of the garden. The apprentice spots it, and moves in to investigate. "What's this?" he asks "A sundial" replies my mate. "What's it for?" he asks. "It's for telling the time using the Sun" he's informed. "God, what will they think of next"....... Might be a story, but....

[Weatherlawyer]

A light switch for solar energy to use it at night.

[Tony Williams]

I know of a 1980-ish tower clock, which has that genuine middle ages? look. In fact, the face of the clock is a black rubber dustbin lid, the numbers and curlykews on the dial are also plastic, gilt-painted, as are the very ornate pierced hands. You'd be surprised at what some 'antique' clockmakers get up to. :)

[nightjar]

Water jet cutting is usually cheaper than laser cutting and it works on a wider variety of materials, including stone.

Colin Bignell

[Andy Dingley]

Here's one of mine

book: models to practice on, and a good explanation of the geometry, Cheap too!

Copper works, and can be patinated nicely for outdoors. It also cuts, can have outline numbers soldered to it, or you can hammer texture the surface to mark things out (dartboard stripes).

Another nice material I've used is slate floor tiles, grooved with an angle grinder and thind cutting disk, then with either lead or molten sulphur poured in as an infill.

Sulphur inlay is fun and dead easy.

[emma]

Thanks all, esp Andy - I like you sundial - very useful. I like the sulphur infil and am investigating water cutting. Cheers.