Thanks for the reply and to all who have provided suggestions. I was originally thinking of stainless steel for a skeletonized sundial but aluminum would be a lot easier to work. The basic frame would be round with the hour lines attached to it. There are a lot of outdoor items with power coated finishes and this was another consideration. The problem is how to bend a straight piece of SS or aluminum around a form to get a decent circular shape. The reflective properties of SS I had not considered.
We have a home owners association here and I may have to get their approval of the design and a skeletonized metal sundial would seem to fit the bill. A painted dial would certainly be less trouble. ________________________________ From: Jack Aubert <[email protected]> To: 'Douglas Vogt' <[email protected]>; [email protected] Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 12:18 PM Subject: RE: Construction of a vertical declining sundial Are you imagining a colored (painted or printed) panel? Or lines and numbers applied directly to the wall? A sheet of metal would probably be difficult to read from any distance unless it were a casting with a lot of relief. Stainless is not a good option for a number of reasons: expensive, hard to work and too reflective. I have used lightweight foam core sign board which is meant for outdoor use and paints well. With this material you could do something in the style of the vertical painted dials common in the Alps. Foam core sign board would probably not survive for a very long time, but your garage will probably not survive indefinitely, either. I made a dial for the side of my house by screwing plastic 3/4” square strips for hour-lines directly to the wall. It is a minimalist dial: line ends correspond to the solstices and there is a red mark for the equinoxes. The materials were easy to obtain (all from Home Depot) and work with. Jack Aubert From:sundial [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Douglas Vogt Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 11:17 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Construction of a vertical declining sundial Does anyone have any thoughts on the type of metals to use in the construction of an outdoor vertical sundial? We have a garage wall facing almost due south here in southern Florida, USA and my wife wants a sundial on it. I've got several books on sundial construction and some experience working in metal (mainly clockmaking) but what would be the best one for the sundial: stainless, aluminum (aluminium)? Brass or bronze would be a bit pricey. Ideal diameter would be a meter. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.
--------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
