The past year, I've been playing around with a little 1cm. square mirror to
be used for ceiling sundials that Fred S. gave us at the Hartford NASS
conference.

I have a large room with a big ceiling. The roof of the house has an
overhang over the southern window, however. In order that the level mirror
not be shaded by the overhanging roof in the summer, I found that I had to
lower the mirror closer to the floor.  This of course caused  the hour
"spots" to be shifted far to the north on the ceiling.

I wanted the ceiling dial face to be somewhat centered on the ceiling, but
lowering the mirror shifted the hour lines too far north on the ceiling.  I
found that I could correct this by tilting it slightly to the south. Tilting
the mirror will also help to center the dial face on a ceiling of a room
that declines from south.

Now, tilting the mirror makes calculating the hour lines mathematically very
difficult (for me). But using the "connect the dots" method that we've been
discussing greatly simplifies the drawing of the dial face. It just takes a
long time (six months).


John

John L. Carmichael Jr.
Sundial Sculptures
925 E. Foothills Dr.
Tucson Arizona 85718
USA

Tel: 520-696-1709
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: <http://www.sundialsculptures.com>

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