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Hello all you great guys who answered my
letter!
First, thanks for showing us the photos of existing
large cones. That chrome-plated metal gnomon at Swan Lake in
Japan is a very nice one and similar to what I had in mind, although the
sharp point makes it unsuitable for a nodus that must project long
shadows. Also, very intriguing was the tilted polar axis cone gnomon in
Mike Cowhan's book, Sundials of the British Isles- much like Hendrik Hollander's
polar axis cone on his new mean time dials. I had not thought about
tilting the cone.
Most of all I appreciated your ideas on how one
might construct a giant cone gnomon out of metal sheets or cement
sprayed on wire mesh. Both of these methods seem possible. (what
about fiberglass?)
Also, I like the ideas of Tony & John Davis who
both mentioned the multisided polygon (pyramid) as an alternative design.
A pyramid can have any number of sides. A pyramid with an
infinite number of sides would be a cone, so one with 20 sides would look a
lot like a cone. And no metal curved bending would be required. A
neat idea. So many choices!
I will present these ideas to the builder to see
what he thinks. Meanwhile, today I will search the internet for large
cones to see what I come up with. Who knows, I may actually find a surplus
rocket nosecone or something similar.
Note to Douglas Bateman: It
seems that John Moir is the only dialist among us who has actual experience in
fabricating a large metal cone. Since I have no way of contacting him,
perhaps, when you talk to him, you could ask him how he had it
made.
Again, thanks again to everybody for your
thoughtful letters. I knew you guys would have some good
ideas.
John
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