| CASE STUDY: A cube dial was desired for latitude 32.75, longitude 108.2 and the dial was not aligned true north, it was offset about 5.6 degrees. There was to be an east, south, and west dial plate, the dial was to be corrected for longitude. The notes here, about 600k in PDF format, cover the very beginning of the project until its completion. The spreadsheet reference-spreadsheets.xls is used. This case study is an excellent demonstration of using the spreadsheet (or pure trig) and making sense of the data. 12 8x8x16 concrete blocks, 1 sack concrete, 4 sacks mortar, 3 sheets of 1 foot square glass that shows shadows well, copper foil several sizes, 50/50 solder The project is blocked out over 10 days with lots of spare time. This dial is closely inspired by the sundial on the front cover of the book ILLUSTRATING TIME'S SHADOW, which can be purchased using PayPal here. This is exhaustively treated in part of one chapter in the sequel to Illustrating Shadows, called ILLUSTRATING TIME'S SHADOW which covers inclining decliners and other cubic dials in substantial detail with a number of modes of design, and actual construction. CAD, trigonometry, spreadsheets, available software, as well as geometric methods are discussed in depth. |
| CASE STUDIES |
| 2009 |
| CASE STUDY A vertical decliner showing the hours, longitude corrected. Also shown are Italian hours. The dial is on a vertical declining wall, and built as a project with some neighbors. A trigon was used for the hours and equinox and winter solstice lines, verified with actual sun readings using the equation of time (EOT). The Italian lines used the table in the book Illustrating Time's Shadows |
| CASE STUDY (click here) a declining incliner which is a major feature of the book ILLUSTRATING MORE SHADOWS The full chapter on declining incliners using CAD, trigonometry, spreadsheets, other software and geometry is a key part of Illustrating More Shadows. The chapter in the book does the geometric model three times, one is step by step with insets to see finer points, and each page of text has its associated diagrams, no need to turn pages back and forth. Then the design is reworked in its three major phases ~ dial center and noon line, SD and SH, and finally the hour lines. Then in a quick step, the dial is adjusted for longitude along with a discussion on what does and what does not need reworking and a discussion on why you would or would not make that adjustment. Then construction details show the dial being built, as shown completed on the left. The DeltaCAD macros on this web site also facilitate this design. The general spreadsheet reference-spreadsheets.xls supports declining incliners. The book ILLUSTRATING MORE SHADOWS is available on PayPal now along with Illustrating Shadows, in full color on a CD which also has a tonof extra material.. |
| three 2x12x12 paving stones, one 8x8x8 block, 20 2x4x8 clay brick, one sack of mortar, copper wire and a copper plate. One day to design, one day to build the dial plate, one day to build the column start to finish and set the dial plate. |
| CASE STUDY ~ This took one day to build, and the two page file is about 90k. A circular concrete paver, a brick, and whatever is needed for the column - in this case three 8x8x8 and two 2x12x12 pavers. A threaded bolt or some 1/4 inch copper tubing for the gnomon, and a dremel engraver and a dremel rotary tool. This dial is longitude corrected (which is why the two mounting holes are not symmetrical), set at latitude, and easy to read. It actually sits on one of the three columns of the analemmatic dial shown also on this page, and an armillary sit on the second, and a polar dial on the third. |
| CASE STUDY ~ This took a couple of days, it is an armillary dial made from a clay flu liner. The file is about 100k and three or four pages. This dial is longitude adjusted and has calendar lines. This dial and the paver equatorial rest on the 6 am and the 6 pm columns of the large garden analamettic dial. |
| CASE STUDY ~ A polar dial on a column. This took one day from start to finish, it has longitude corrected hours as well as Italian lines, and calendar lines as well. About 300k this PDF file shows the trigonometric as well as geometric process, using CAD from TurboCAD. The reference spreadsheet has been updated to facilitate this kind of dial. |
| CASE STUDY ~ an open book dial, or two gnomonless dials back to back. The book Illustrating More Shadows has this dial discussed in detail, along with dial plates not properly circular, and is available in full color on a CD together with Illustrating Shadows, and a ton of DeltaCAD, TurboCAD, and Excel material, available now on the PayPal page. |
| CASE STUDY ~ A cube dial almost 45 degrees declining, actually 44 and 46 degrees, detailed in Illustrating More Shadows, shows the design and testing of all faces, and comparing a final dial plate with a mockup dial plate. The CD with Illustrating More Shadows and Illustrating Shadows, in full color, along with a tone of extra material is available now on a CD, see this PayPal page. |
| CASE STUDY - engraved portable dials The engraving printer used was an EGX-20, acquired to engrave dial data plates and EOT tables. As there was some left over engraver's brass, why not take the CAD drawings used for other dials, for example the polar dial on a column, and put them onto brass. Each dial took about an hour from start to finish and look nice on the window sill of the author's office. The polar dial has calendar lines and Italian hour lines, both are longitude adjusted, and both need the EOT correction only. It is a long journey from small engraved dials to large ones for garden use, a few of the factors are explained. The author is in no way an engraver, the BSS and NASS web sites have links to such persons. These were merely built to use spare metal, and for fun, and took almost no time. |
| The author's forte is not painting nor metal work . Some 30 years of glass work and a lot of masonry have helped some of those dials to be presentable. Some 40 years ago, a bit more, he studied both sculpture pottery under Donald Potter at Bryanston, and did a lot of kiln sitting. And later studied with Kate Brown at the Mimbres Hot Springs, a place his family once owned. One of the author's kilns goes up to cone 6 (2230 degrees F) so why not make some clay dial plates. To the left is a true east, south, and west cube dial with a horizontal dial also, the dial plates being attached to an 8x8x8 concrete cinder or breeze block. Donald Potter and Kate Brown both encourage freedom of expression, and the author uses "it looks right" rather than science in slip and glaze preparation, and dial plate furniture. The book Illustrating More Shadows shows a number of clay dials with tips on slip preparation and firing, and is available on a CD in full color along with the first book Illustrating Shadows, plus a ton of extra material, all on a CD, see this PayPal page. |
| These case studies are somewhat abbreviated. The articles are expanded extensively in ILLUSTRATING TIMES SHADOW and many more case studies are on the CD that comes with the printed books, as well as when you order the CD alone. Many pictures of my outdoor dials, and some interesting snow on them |
| A clay stoneware dial, south 5 degrees west declining dial. The case study is about 500k and has pictures of determining the wall declination using the astro compass, magnetic compass, and azimuth method. This case study (zip has pdf and vrml) then shows the design using this web sites DeltaCAD macros of both the hour lines as well as calendar curves. Italian hour lines added for the colder months. The calendar line transfer method is described in both Illustrating Shadows as well as Illustrating More Shadows. also includes the matching north facing vertical declineing dial. as well as the .wrl file (vrml). |
| Below is shown the relationships between the north and south facing vertical dials when longitude is considered (noon & midnight) and declination (SD). Image in Cortona vrml - user rotatable 3d CAD. (click FIT then STUDY) |
| The Arrow dial case study ~ ~ ~ A pair of dials that remind the observer of an arrow, hence their name. They are east (pictured left) and west (pictured right), meridian dials but they decline. They are a few degrees off east or west. |
Phoenix AZ dial plate
templates in DeltaCAD (.dc)
and in Acrobat pdf form.
Latitude 33.5 longitude 112.1,
in ZIP file
The case studies show the
initial raw materials. For
ceramics, they show the first
clay piece, with slip, bisque
fired, then glaze applies, then
glaze fired, then tacked with
mastic and secured with tape if
needed, then grouted, and in
use.
templates in DeltaCAD (.dc)
and in Acrobat pdf form.
Latitude 33.5 longitude 112.1,
in ZIP file
The case studies show the
initial raw materials. For
ceramics, they show the first
clay piece, with slip, bisque
fired, then glaze applies, then
glaze fired, then tacked with
mastic and secured with tape if
needed, then grouted, and in
use.
| CEILING DIAL A ceiling dial of some 6 feet by 12 feet is shown with details of its construction over 3 months. Here are the notes. |
| A vertical dial and a horizontal dial on an L shaped frame as opposed to a cube. And for added measure, a polar dial. This was built as an instructional aid for a sundial course at WNMU. The pictures add spice, and are of H. G. Selfridge's country estate (Highcliffe) and his yacht (S.Y. Conqueror). |
| CASE STUDY ~ a garden azimuth dial with varying gnomon center, often called an analemmatic dial. Common in parks, useful for a town's recreation center. Used 11 pavers of 2c12x12, and 8 bricks, some wood for the calendar marks. This takes about one or two hours to build and the reference-spreadsheets.xls has the tools needed. This file is about 140k so easy to download, and definitely fun. The 6am column actually has an equatorial dial on it, see below. The 6 pm column actually has on it an armillary dial, see below. And the noon column actually has on it a polar dial. |
