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Last month I decided, predictably, that I needed to use the new forge to make Christmas presents. After some thought and poking around on blacksmithing sites, I struck upon the idea of making sundials. One has been finished and is now standing proudly in Lubbock, Texas.
(All images are links to the fullsize images.)
All in all it took about 4 hours at the forge and another couple at the workbench getting it bolted together at the right angles and grinding the hour lines. The vertical support and the bow are both made from salvaged one inch railing stock. Drawing out the tips of the bows has made an excellent case for getting a power hammer once I have room. The little folds on the tips, while a not bad as a decorative detail, are actually massive failures of my smithing technique. Oh well.
I need to think of a better way to mark the hour lines for the next one. Grinding them with a dremel tool just isn't working. Mask it off and use chemical etching or sandblasting, maybe.
Shortly after it was finished, early Christmas Eve morning, about 8 hours before our flight. It unbolts into three flat sections so -- other than being really heavy -- it was easy enough to take down to Texas in my luggage. The TSA opened the bag it was in. I can't blame them, on xray it would look like either a very large crossbow or a very compact ballista.
A comparison of the sundial with my watch. (The watch has a 24 hour dial, and I never bothered to set it back two hours to CST.) It is only temporarily mounted, so the north/south alignment isn't the best. Still, it was accurate within 10 minutes or so.
If you look at the full image you can clearly see how the noon line is set well to the left of the center of the sundial. This is because Lubbock is a whooping 11 degrees away from the center of its timezone. Normally you can only get 7.5 degrees away, but CST zags far to the west in that area. The mounting angle of the entire bow assembly onto the vertical support is 33 degrees, Lubbock's latitude.
(All images are links to the fullsize images.)
All in all it took about 4 hours at the forge and another couple at the workbench getting it bolted together at the right angles and grinding the hour lines. The vertical support and the bow are both made from salvaged one inch railing stock. Drawing out the tips of the bows has made an excellent case for getting a power hammer once I have room. The little folds on the tips, while a not bad as a decorative detail, are actually massive failures of my smithing technique. Oh well.
I need to think of a better way to mark the hour lines for the next one. Grinding them with a dremel tool just isn't working. Mask it off and use chemical etching or sandblasting, maybe.
Shortly after it was finished, early Christmas Eve morning, about 8 hours before our flight. It unbolts into three flat sections so -- other than being really heavy -- it was easy enough to take down to Texas in my luggage. The TSA opened the bag it was in. I can't blame them, on xray it would look like either a very large crossbow or a very compact ballista.
A comparison of the sundial with my watch. (The watch has a 24 hour dial, and I never bothered to set it back two hours to CST.) It is only temporarily mounted, so the north/south alignment isn't the best. Still, it was accurate within 10 minutes or so.
If you look at the full image you can clearly see how the noon line is set well to the left of the center of the sundial. This is because Lubbock is a whooping 11 degrees away from the center of its timezone. Normally you can only get 7.5 degrees away, but CST zags far to the west in that area. The mounting angle of the entire bow assembly onto the vertical support is 33 degrees, Lubbock's latitude.
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