Magnetic Gnomon Attachment

[John Carmichael]

Hello All:   Two weeks ago, I attached the gnomon to my bay window stained glass sundial. In the original prototype, I had used a brass baseplate adhered to the outer protective glass with silicone.  But this baseplate was a little ugly because you could see it behind the painted sunnface piece in the sg panel.  So instead,  I epoxied the rod & sheet gnomon to a 3" square piece of clear glass and then siliconed it to the outer protective pane. The edges of the baseplate line up with the lead came so the baseplate is invisible from inside the room.  (you can see new photos on the SGS website).   Anyway, I've been thinking that for some future project, that it would be possible to attach the gnomon to the SGS using a magnet.  If a piece of stainless steel were in the stained glass design, and if the gnomon baseplate were a magnet (or vias versa), then you could secure the gnomon to the SGS without fear that it could crack the glass.  If somebody bumped into the gnomon, it would simply fall off, avoiding any damage to the glass.   If you have a double-paned window,  you could glue the magnet to the inside or outside of the outer protective pane.   Nobody has used this method, but I think it might work.  (you could do the same for a table-top analemmatic to keep the gnomon in place during high winds).   John   John L. Carmichael Sundial Sculptures 925 E. Foothills Dr. Tucson AZ 85718-4716 USA Tel: 520-6961709 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   Websites: Sundial Sculptures: http://www.sundialsculptures.com Stained Glass Sundials: http://www.stainedglasssundials.com