Will magnets rust (oxidize) in the rain? 

 

 

From: R Wall [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 1:04 PM
To: John Carmichael; 'Sundial List'
Subject: Re: Glass on Glass Mosaic Indoor Sundial Windows

 

Hi John, Tony and all,

 

That’s a great idea. The only part I don’t like is gluing on a thin piece of 
rubber. With the sundial outside in the weather, over time the rubber will 
perish.

 

Roderick Wall.

 

From: John <mailto:[email protected]>  Carmichael 

Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 5:25 AM

To: 'Sundial <mailto:[email protected]>  List' 

Subject: RE: Glass on Glass Mosaic Indoor Sundial Windows

 

Good idea Tony!

 

I have a few of these little magnets that I bought at Ace Hardware.  They are 
round, 1 inch in diameter and 1/8 inch thick.  Two of them work very well 
together through a standard piece of glass that is 1/8” thick.  I’m sure you 
can find larger disk magnets- square ones too.  Mine are cheap magnets.  There 
might be even stronger ones available somewhere.

 

But since glass is slippery, they can easily slide around on the glass (a big 
no no for gnomons!).  But there is a solution.  You can keep the magnets from 
sliding around by restricting their movement with a border around the outside 
one that’s on the bottom of the gnomon.  It could be the lead came of a 
soldered window or a ring of something (a little curved rod) glued to the 
window.  This will keep the gnomon in the exact proper position.

 

For extra protection, the bottom of the magnets could have a thin piece of 
rubber glued on.  This would prevent the metal magnet from actually touching 
the glass with a rubber cushion.  So if somebody hits the gnomon hard, the 
metal magnet won’t damage the glass.

 

Larry- if you make one of these magnet gnomons for your window dial, will you 
please photograph it for us to see?

 

John

 

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On 
Behalf Of Tony Moss
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 6:28 AM
To: Sundial Mailing List
Subject: Re: Glass on Glass Mosaic Indoor Sundial Windows

 

On 04/01/2011 05:27, John Carmichael wrote: 

 

Oh, by the way, on a related subject, I’ve been thinking about a neat way of 
firmly attaching a gnomon to a glass sundial that would prevent the glass from 
breaking if something bumps into the gnomon (i.e. a window washer or house 
painter) You could attach a gnomon that has a flat steel base to the outside of 
the glass by placing a magnet on the inside of the glass.  I’ve already tested 
this and it works great!  If somebody bumps into the gnomon, instead of 
cracking the glass, it simply falls off and you just stick it back on.  This 
method of gnomon attachment is especially easy to do with a perpendicular rod 
gnomon since it just has one point of attachment… just put a flat steel base on 
the rod that will attract the magnet.  Simple!  No drilling, nuts, washers, or 
soldering needed!

 

Great idea John but I think I would take it a stage further and have a magnet 
within the base of the gnomon for a mutual strong pull through the thickness of 
the glass.  Ultra-powerful 'rare earth' magnets are easily available these days 
in a variety of forms.  I have a pair which are 1/4" cubes and are impossible 
to separate by hand with a straight pull.  Even sliding them apart is difficult.

Google < rare earth magnets > for infor' and availability.

Tony Moss

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