Thank you! I have looked at a lot of pictures of the Schmoyer dial. I can't figure out how it works. I wish there was a video about it. It also looks like there are some complicated curves that I could never reproduce, plus I don't know what they do anyway. To me, the simpler the better!
The ol’ figure 8… The REAL path of the sun. Your gadget here depicts it amazingly and actually shows it’s position on its course thru the year. Best dial I’ve seen to-date!
@@edwoodcon9039 What I did was went to the web site I will give, printed out the "8", then using a copier scaled it up or down in order to get the size I wanted. Remember it needs to be upside down on your dial. Here is the link: www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html Let me know if you need any more help. Hope this works!
That's very nice. I didn't quite catch exactly how it's supposed to be aligned. Does the axis of the circle point at the North pole? Does it work year round? Seems like if the axis of the main dial was North pole oriented then in the winter the sun would shine on the other side.
A very perceptive observation and question. Yes, it is polar aligned. And yes, it works in the winter or summer. the only adjustment you have to make is to rotate the time dial one hour forward or back, same as you would your clocks at home. The secret to working year-round is the fact that the little targeting hole (I don't know what else to call it...) is high enough that the sun projects a spot on the figure 8 year around. The targeting hole is high enough that the sun can move 23* up and down, projecting the image on the entire analemma. So yes, a simple polar type of sun dial would only work in the summer, but the way this one is designed, it works year around. Does that help? Feel free to ask any other questions.
This is AWESOME! I'm pretty familiar with the mathematics behind sundials and how to adjust for your location within your time zone, the solar equation difference [hence the analema] and DST [obviously] and my favorite solar calendar/ clock has been a sun dot polar sundial, designed by one J H Pretorius, 1999 because of it's simplicity.... until now! (I still highly recommend looking that sundial up if you haven't seen it before). Thank you so much for posting this! I'm off to make one! (Two questions if you don't mind answering: 😮 1) that curved piece of wood that the analema is on... how did you curve it? 2) How did you get a perfect analema figure 8 on there? I realize you burned it but I'm assuming you traced a pattern or something. How did you make that pattern? Just using mathematics or did you print out an already created one and use that for a pattern or etc.?)
Thanks for your comment! The curved piece of wood is a special bendable plywood. I had some left over from a telescope from years earlier. As for the analama, I looked around on the Internet until I found what looked like a good example and printed it out. Then I simply figured the size I needed, took it to a copier and scaled it up, or down, bit by bit till I got the size I needed. I'd send you you the link..... but I lost it! Thanks again, and any other questions, feel free to ask. I am awaiting to see your rendition!
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqThank you so much for responding! I'm trying to make plans for one of these so I can build one. One more question if you don't mind (I may lack the exact terminology but I'll be as clear as possible) : Concerning the curvature of the piece. It appears that the curvature is calculated by using the pin hole that the dot shines through as the center of a circle, and this curved piece of wood is a section of said circle, and the total length of the analema (not the total length of the wood) is [roughly] a 47 degree section of the circle. Is this correct?
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqJust subscribed as well. Thank you so much for sharing this! So many dials do not "automatically" compensate for the equation of time nor are they adjustable for DST, latitude or your placement within a time zone.
@@American-Plague I think you got the idea. In my particular dial, the pinhole is in the center of a 16" circle, so the measurement is 8" from the pinhole to the curved target. The reason for doing it that way (and the article I used for my design did not do it that way) is that if you use a flat piece, which you can, but both ends would have to be slightly distorted, or elongated. Using the curved plate, like I did, makes the distance from the pinhole to the Anelemma (how do you spell it??) the same, so there is no distortion. Probably wouldn't make a big difference, but I like to be as precise as possible, using what I have.
Sir.. If the Sun rises in the East in the morning,, Your dial would be positioned to the right side (with the pinhole showing the month of the year) so wouldn't the morning hours be written on the top right of the time dial? Then in afternoon, the dial would turn to the left side for afternoon sun and the afternoon hours marked on the left side of the dial... sun sets West to the left where the pinhole would be in afternoon....?? Honest Question.. Not criticizing at all... Beautiful work!!! I made an armillary sundial myself at home. I like your design as it gives a more accurate monthly time with the pinhole,, following the very precise figure eight sun motion. Thank you
Thank you for your question and compliment. Sorry it has taken me so long to answer. I have been thinking about your question, and checking my work too! I will try to answer, starting with the basics. 1: This is built for the Northern Hemisphere. I don't what would happen in the southern part of the sky.. 2: So the first part of the set-up is to level the base, and then align it as perfectly as possible North and South. 3: Tilt the face up so the axis points to the north star, or north polar axis. Just as you would for a telescope. Mine is tilted up about 34*, as I live close to LA. 4: Then, standing in front of the cock (you are facing south), you rotate the dial until the pinhole is facing the sun, (note the arrow on the swing arm) and the image of the pinhole on the proper part (Month) of the Analemma. In the morning the pinhole should be pointing East (to your left), then you just read the dial like any clock. In the afternoon, of course, it will point to your Right. This is assuming again that you are facing the dial, with North at your back. You are facing South. With this dial, you can estimate the time to within about 2 minutes. Would be more accurate if my markings were. Does that help? Let me know if you have any more questions. Would love to see your armillary!
@DavidMorris-pq4jq No sir.. I'm sorry, I am not trying to be rude at all... I still am confused... If you face your dial... Facing dial and facing North star... The east is to your right.. Sun rises east. Facing your dial , east is on your right side... So moring sun would be low in the east as it rises... If you turn your pinhole towards the right, to catch the morning sun, then the dial and pinhole will be turned to the right side of the clock dial,,, and on the right side there are afternoon numbers. Say in the afternoon the Sun is setting to the West, left side... You have to turn the dial with the pinhole to the left to catch the sun... Now your dial is over to the left of 12 noon... but there are a.m. hours on the left of the dial. That's what confuses me if that makes sense... I would think the clock would have to have the numbers backwards. 9:00 a.m. on the right side, 12 noon in the top center and 3:00 p.m. on the left of the dial.... If this does not make sense, I apologize. That is on of the best armillary Sun dials I have seen made sir. Thank you!!
@@bryancollins6903 Don't worry, I don't consider you being rude at all. It is just a matter of communication and understanding. I wish I could redo the video, maybe to make it more clear. I really think you have the right idea. Once the dial is set in place, and calibrated, the only part that moves is the dial. In the video I rotate the entire clock, which you never do in real life. Set it aiming north, and to the pole, and that is it. (Again, this is in the northern hemisphere) "Sir.. If the Sun rises in the East in the morning,, Your dial would be positioned to the right side (with the pinhole showing the month of the year) so wouldn't the morning hours be written on the top right of the time dial? Then in afternoon, the dial would turn to the left side for afternoon sun and the afternoon hours marked on the left side of the dial... sun sets West to the left where the pinhole would be in afternoon....??" I have copied your original question above. It looks like you have the right idea. Simply take a watch, or normal clock outside, point it north, and you will see the morning hours are on the Right Hand side (assuming you are also looking north), and the afternoon hours are on the left, as on a normal clock. So in the morning, you aim the arm to the east and then the pointer is at the end of the arm, and will show the correct time. In the afternoon the arm will point to the west, and again, the time will be at the end of the arm. There is a little wire on the end of the arm, on the same end as the pinhole, that will give the correct time. There is also an arrow on the arm that says "SUN", with a pointer that should point at the sun. It works, and very well. Watch the video again. But again, once the base is set and aligned north and south, you never change it. I did in the video just to get a better picture of the face of the clock, but in real life, you never change that setting. Nor do you ever tilt the face of the dial either. Once it is set, you leave it that way.... Just the small arm is the only thing that moves. Not sure how to send you an email, because I could send some pictures of it set up and working. In the morning, the arm aims East, at noon it aims straight up, and in the afternoon, it aims West. Hope this helps. Maybe someone else can jump in with some suggestions...
If that pin hole of light has to be lined up with the correct date, and I am assuming it does, how can it be accurate when the days of the month are labelled?
Glad you made that little correction! Makes it easier for me to understand, and to answer, too. Once you set it up correctly for your location, everything is locked into place, so the only thing that moves is the pointer arm. So once you place the spot on the correct side of the "8", corresponding to the current month, you simply read the time off the dial pointer. All other corrections are built in. I could have marked the days of the month, but on that small dial, using wood burning methods, it would have just added confusion. The spot will always be in the correct place if the dial is built and set up correctly. Hope that helps!
In fact, you could go out every day, or maybe every week, and put a mark where the sun is. You will see that it changes position every day anyway. All automatically
Yes. I should have realized that without you having to point it out. Where can I get the plans for this thing? I would make one that wasn't adjustable for longitude but there is no way to just build this thing to look like yours without having the correct measurements.@@DavidMorris-pq4jq
bonjour peut on avoir la décomposition du procédé pour pouvoir faire les differentes pieces selon l'endroit ou l'on se trouve et avoir le meme type de cadran solaire, merci
Go to Amazon and look for "Sundials" by R. Newton Mayall and Margaret W. Mayall. This book has been somewhat hard to find, and the edition they are selling is slightly different from mine, but I think it is all there. Their design is quite a bit simpler (except for laying out the Analemma) I created a curved target rather than the flat one they show in the book. But otherwise the one in the book is much simpler than mine! Works the same, though. Lots of other useful and interesting information in the book too. Well worth the read!
Hi Tom.. I m a very amateur woodworker. Most of the tools I used were just hand tools picked up at Harbor Freight or one of the other hardware stores. Nothing fancy at all. For layout, just a big protractor and some careful measuring, then a wood burning kit for the markings. Just a lot of manual labor! And a lot of thinking! The book I used is called "Sundials, how to know, use, and make them" from Sky Publishing Corp. I looked on Amazon, and it seems they are no longer available. So the best I could suggest is to find someone who is reasonably good with woodworking, or better yet, if you actually want to use it outside, someone who can do some metalworking, and have them make one. If you find such a person, I could maybe photo copy the pages from the book and send them, then would be willing to correspond by email or something if there are any questions. The original plans in the book are very different from the one in the video, though I did make a couple close to the original plans before modifying it to the one you see there. I modified it a lot, and made it more functional and artistic. The concept is simple, and the operation is simple, but very accurate. So let me know, because I'd be happy to help out any way I can for someone who would like to know how to build one, and maybe even make a few crude drawings to illustrate it. I'd love to see more of these out there! For sure if I had the ability, I'd make them myself and sell them!Equatorial Sundials on line and RUclips. This is just a modified and enhanced version of the same.
Here is the website I used: www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html I simply printed it out, then scaled it up or down using a copy machine to get it to the size I wanted. Let me know if that helped!
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq Thank you, did you use a 'lazy Susan' for the body of the sundial? I think I hear the bearings rattle. Did you just turn this upside down? I am also curious, did you just look at the radius from the hole to the scale and figure out how long the analemma needed to be to cover 47 degrees?
All the parts were cut from a sheet of plywood, using a router and circle cutting attachment. The "bearing" you see in the center is an old CD. I am making another entire dial from aluminum, which hopefully should be a bit more weather resistant! And yes, that is exactly what I did to figure out the length of the analemma. I drew it all out to scale on a piece of paper then figured what size to make everything. You don't really need to make a curved back plate. The book I have shows it to be just a strait, or flat, piece. It probably wouldn't make a lot of difference, but I figured a curved plate would be slightly more accurate, and looks good anyway. To be honest, the size of the project was determined by the size of some of the parts left over from building a telescope a number of years earlier. Then I made another, smaller, and slightly different design dial from the left over parts of the one you see in the video...
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq yes, I see that. Fantastic design, I'll be modifying it slightly, adding a declination scale, settings for longitude and DST/ST and a vernier scale for the minutes. Should be an interesting build for my channel.
I will be interested in seeing what you come up with! I do have a declination scale, but not very accurate. I don't have good machining skills, so my markings are not totally accurate. Close enough, but I use a digital level to get it precise. My outer dial can be rotated to make the changes from daylight to standard time. There are several different ways to do that, or just etch both times on the surface. Will love to see your final build!
I'm not sure exactly what your question is, but the basic design came from a book called "Sundials" by R. Newton Mayall and Margaret W Mayall. I think that book is still available on Amazon. I found an image of an Analemma here: www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html I just printed it out, and then traced it to the back plate, then in one case wood burned the image onto the plate using a wood burning kit, in another case, used an archival ink pen, then covered everything with several coats of varnish. The rest of the design and construction was very much my own, based somewhat on a couple of old photographs, which design I also modified to my own abilities. It can certainly be made more simply than this one, and work just as well. I would not leave this one out in the weather much, as it is just made of wood, but I am working on a design that I can construct using copper plating. Thanks for looking, and for your question. If you have anything more specific you'd like to know, I will be happy to try to answer.
@@ethanweyn752 The curve is simply the radius from the targeting hole (What else should I call it??) on the front piece. The original design in the book I mentioned showed that piece as a simple straight piece of wood. The problem with that is that the analemma would have to be distorted somewhat at either extreme (top and bottom). You probably wouldn't notice it in real life, but I just wanted to be more precise. Artistic too, I think! The curve makes all parts of the analemma the same distance from the targeting hole. I'm just hoping the analemma I downloaded from the internet is accurately drawn. My test dial seems to be working pretty well, though that back piece is flat on my first attempt.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq Beautiful work, I'd call the radius the 'focal point'? Nice job, I want to make an an Armillary sundial, being a metal man it seems more suitable for me.
@@user-rh7cs9pv6b Thank you! I am trying to figure out how to make one out of metal myself. The etching of the markings and also welding or soldering the parts together has me a bit stumped. But for sure, metal would be better! I did make an Armillary dial out of knitting hoops! Primitive, but it does work! Sort of....!
🙂 I think I have probably built my last one. I don't have access to some of the tools I used to build the one in my video. I did make one out of aluminum so I can leave it outside. If I ever built another one, I'd like to make it out of brass, and perhaps have the markings etched in professionally, rather than hand drawn like the one in the video. I actually built 4 of them, adding improvements in each one. But thanks for the comment! If I had the equipment, I'd like to make them commercially, because there just aren't many like that out there.
Maybe I meant the operation of it! Who knows what I was thinking a few years ago! I have seen some much more complicated designs to use or understand or to build. My main tools for this one, was a table saw, a router, a hole cutting attachment for the router, and some elbow grease. A couple of large protractors and rulers and a wood burning kit.....
I think this will help: www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html I found this on the web, printed it out, then figured exactly what length it needed to be, so took it to a copy machine and scaled it up or down to get the dimensions I needed, then simply traced the "8" onto the target (curved) plate. The rest of the dial was laid out using a large protractor I picked up at Harbor freight. For Latitude, I simply looked at my GPS, figured my Latitude angel, then used my smart phone level, or any digital level, to set your own Latitude. Mine is around 34* Feel free to ask any other question. Hope the link works.
Thanks for your question. The front of the swing arm has the little hole in it, and the curved piece with the figure 8 on it is the radius from that hole to the 8. The pivot is 1/2 way between them So I have two dials, one the radius is 8", the other is smaller and the radius is 6" So the distance from the targeting hole to the "8" is the same from top to bottom. So whatever size your dial is, the radius is from the front targeting hole to the curved piece. Hope that helps! Feel free to ask any other questions.
@@MauriceJayMusic Making me laugh! It is hard to make a video of something I built 3 years ago! I do have a few snapshots of it in pieces. Mine is also unnecessarily complicated. There are easier ways to build it. Not as pretty, but just as functional I got the idea from a book called "Sundials, How to Know, Use, and make them". by R. Newton Mayall and Margaret W. Mayall. Unfortunately it is out of print as far as looking on Amazon is concerned. I am also not sure how to add some still shots to a video already posted. I do have some photos of a much simpler version I built at first, but again, just single shots. If I knew how to send you a single shot, or several of them, I would. Otherwise feel free to keep asking questions. Just a hint, The complex separate rotating dial rotating around a smaller inner wheel can be a single piece, mounted to a flat board, which is hinged at the bottom to another flat board, with an adjustable arm to set the declination. The single round dial can have a slotted hole at the bottom for making adjustments for wherever you are within your own time zone, or between standard time and daylight savings time.. I didn't have any plans other than the simple one in the book mentioned above. All the other adjustments were pretty much invented in my head as I went along. I made several versions before finally doing the one in the video. I later made one out of aluminum. I appreciate your interest (and anyone else's) and am happy to answer any other questions.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqThank you again squire for the reply.... looks like I will be spending the next 6 months pondering time, angles and our solar system :-)
Absolutely elegant design. To me this is easier to understand than the Schmoyer dial.
Thank you! I have looked at a lot of pictures of the Schmoyer dial. I can't figure out how it works. I wish there was a video about it. It also looks like there are some complicated curves that I could never reproduce, plus I don't know what they do anyway. To me, the simpler the better!
The ol’ figure 8…
The REAL path of the sun.
Your gadget here depicts it amazingly and actually shows it’s position on its course thru the year.
Best dial I’ve seen to-date!
Thank you! It was a fun project, and works well!
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqhow to draw ol 8 shape please ??
@@edwoodcon9039 What I did was went to the web site I will give, printed out the "8", then using a copier scaled it up or down in order to get the size I wanted. Remember it needs to be upside down on your dial.
Here is the link: www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html Let me know if you need any more help. Hope this works!
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq thanks a lot 👍👍
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq it worked for me. Thanks a lot
Wow, really nice work on that! Wonderful workmanship.
Thank you! It was a fun project!
Wow, very simple and elegant.
Thank you! 😊
Just Awesome! I have never seen one like that. Thank you for showing it!
Very smart way to include analemma in the viewing , most people do not know about the sun "swaying" back and forth during the year!
Awesome. Thank you.
Nice design!
thank you!
This is very cool.
Thank you!
That's very nice. I didn't quite catch exactly how it's supposed to be aligned. Does the axis of the circle point at the North pole? Does it work year round? Seems like if the axis of the main dial was North pole oriented then in the winter the sun would shine on the other side.
A very perceptive observation and question. Yes, it is polar aligned. And yes, it works in the winter or summer. the only adjustment you have to make is to rotate the time dial one hour forward or back, same as you would your clocks at home. The secret to working year-round is the fact that the little targeting hole (I don't know what else to call it...) is high enough that the sun projects a spot on the figure 8 year around. The targeting hole is high enough that the sun can move 23* up and down, projecting the image on the entire analemma. So yes, a simple polar type of sun dial would only work in the summer, but the way this one is designed, it works year around. Does that help? Feel free to ask any other questions.
This is AWESOME! I'm pretty familiar with the mathematics behind sundials and how to adjust for your location within your time zone, the solar equation difference [hence the analema] and DST [obviously] and my favorite solar calendar/ clock has been a sun dot polar sundial, designed by one J H Pretorius, 1999 because of it's simplicity.... until now! (I still highly recommend looking that sundial up if you haven't seen it before). Thank you so much for posting this! I'm off to make one! (Two questions if you don't mind answering: 😮 1) that curved piece of wood that the analema is on... how did you curve it? 2) How did you get a perfect analema figure 8 on there? I realize you burned it but I'm assuming you traced a pattern or something. How did you make that pattern? Just using mathematics or did you print out an already created one and use that for a pattern or etc.?)
Thanks for your comment! The curved piece of wood is a special bendable plywood. I had some left over from a telescope from years earlier.
As for the analama, I looked around on the Internet until I found what looked like a good example and printed it out. Then I simply figured the size I needed, took it to a copier and scaled it up, or down, bit by bit till I got the size I needed. I'd send you you the link..... but I lost it!
Thanks again, and any other questions, feel free to ask. I am awaiting to see your rendition!
www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html Hopefully, this link works. Is where I got my analamma.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqThank you so much for responding! I'm trying to make plans for one of these so I can build one. One more question if you don't mind (I may lack the exact terminology but I'll be as clear as possible) :
Concerning the curvature of the piece. It appears that the curvature is calculated by using the pin hole that the dot shines through as the center of a circle, and this curved piece of wood is a section of said circle, and the total length of the analema (not the total length of the wood) is [roughly] a 47 degree section of the circle. Is this correct?
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqJust subscribed as well. Thank you so much for sharing this! So many dials do not "automatically" compensate for the equation of time nor are they adjustable for DST, latitude or your placement within a time zone.
@@American-Plague I think you got the idea. In my particular dial, the pinhole is in the center of a 16" circle, so the measurement is 8" from the pinhole to the curved target. The reason for doing it that way (and the article I used for my design did not do it that way) is that if you use a flat piece, which you can, but both ends would have to be slightly distorted, or elongated. Using the curved plate, like I did, makes the distance from the pinhole to the Anelemma (how do you spell it??) the same, so there is no distortion. Probably wouldn't make a big difference, but I like to be as precise as possible, using what I have.
Okay. I like it. How does one obtain such a device?
You have to make one...
Sir.. If the Sun rises in the East in the morning,, Your dial would be positioned to the right side (with the pinhole showing the month of the year) so wouldn't the morning hours be written on the top right of the time dial?
Then in afternoon, the dial would turn to the left side for afternoon sun and the afternoon hours marked on the left side of the dial... sun sets West to the left where the pinhole would be in afternoon....??
Honest Question.. Not criticizing at all... Beautiful work!!!
I made an armillary sundial myself at home. I like your design as it gives a more accurate monthly time with the pinhole,, following the very precise figure eight sun motion. Thank you
Thank you for your question and compliment. Sorry it has taken me so long to answer. I have been thinking about your question, and checking my work too! I will try to answer, starting with the basics.
1: This is built for the Northern Hemisphere. I don't what would happen in the southern part of the sky..
2: So the first part of the set-up is to level the base, and then align it as perfectly as possible North and South.
3: Tilt the face up so the axis points to the north star, or north polar axis. Just as you would for a telescope.
Mine is tilted up about 34*, as I live close to LA.
4: Then, standing in front of the cock (you are facing south), you rotate the dial until the pinhole is facing the sun, (note the arrow on the swing arm) and the image of the pinhole on the proper part (Month) of the Analemma. In the morning the pinhole should be pointing East (to your left), then you just read the dial like any clock. In the afternoon, of course, it will point to your Right. This is assuming again that you are facing the dial, with North at your back. You are facing South. With this dial, you can estimate the time to within about 2 minutes. Would be more accurate if my markings were.
Does that help? Let me know if you have any more questions. Would love to see your armillary!
@DavidMorris-pq4jq No sir.. I'm sorry, I am not trying to be rude at all... I still am confused... If you face your dial... Facing dial and facing North star... The east is to your right.. Sun rises east. Facing your dial , east is on your right side... So moring sun would be low in the east as it rises... If you turn your pinhole towards the right, to catch the morning sun, then the dial and pinhole will be turned to the right side of the clock dial,,, and on the right side there are afternoon numbers.
Say in the afternoon the Sun is setting to the West, left side... You have to turn the dial with the pinhole to the left to catch the sun... Now your dial is over to the left of 12 noon... but there are a.m. hours on the left of the dial.
That's what confuses me if that makes sense... I would think the clock would have to have the numbers backwards.
9:00 a.m. on the right side, 12 noon in the top center and 3:00 p.m. on the left of the dial.... If this does not make sense, I apologize.
That is on of the best armillary Sun dials I have seen made sir. Thank you!!
@DavidMorris-pq4jq Heliocronometer...
Sorry if spelled incorrect
@@bryancollins6903 Don't worry, I don't consider you being rude at all. It is just a matter of communication and understanding. I wish I could redo the video, maybe to make it more clear. I really think you have the right idea.
Once the dial is set in place, and calibrated, the only part that moves is the dial. In the video I rotate the entire clock, which you never do in real life. Set it aiming north, and to the pole, and that is it. (Again, this is in the northern hemisphere)
"Sir.. If the Sun rises in the East in the morning,, Your dial would be positioned to the right side (with the pinhole showing the month of the year) so wouldn't the morning hours be written on the top right of the time dial?
Then in afternoon, the dial would turn to the left side for afternoon sun and the afternoon hours marked on the left side of the dial... sun sets West to the left where the pinhole would be in afternoon....??"
I have copied your original question above. It looks like you have the right idea. Simply take a watch, or normal clock outside, point it north, and you will see the morning hours are on the Right Hand side (assuming you are also looking north), and the afternoon hours are on the left, as on a normal clock. So in the morning, you aim the arm to the east and then the pointer is at the end of the arm, and will show the correct time. In the afternoon the arm will point to the west, and again, the time will be at the end of the arm. There is a little wire on the end of the arm, on the same end as the pinhole, that will give the correct time. There is also an arrow on the arm that says "SUN", with a pointer that should point at the sun. It works, and very well. Watch the video again. But again, once the base is set and aligned north and south, you never change it. I did in the video just to get a better picture of the face of the clock, but in real life, you never change that setting. Nor do you ever tilt the face of the dial either. Once it is set, you leave it that way.... Just the small arm is the only thing that moves. Not sure how to send you an email, because I could send some pictures of it set up and working. In the morning, the arm aims East, at noon it aims straight up, and in the afternoon, it aims West.
Hope this helps. Maybe someone else can jump in with some suggestions...
If that pin hole of light has to be lined up with the correct date, and I am assuming it does, how can it be accurate when the days of the month are labelled?
oops. Meant to say "......are NOT labelled".
Glad you made that little correction! Makes it easier for me to understand, and to answer, too. Once you set it up correctly for your location, everything is locked into place, so the only thing that moves is the pointer arm. So once you place the spot on the correct side of the "8", corresponding to the current month, you simply read the time off the dial pointer. All other corrections are built in. I could have marked the days of the month, but on that small dial, using wood burning methods, it would have just added confusion. The spot will always be in the correct place if the dial is built and set up correctly. Hope that helps!
In fact, you could go out every day, or maybe every week, and put a mark where the sun is. You will see that it changes position every day anyway. All automatically
Yes. I should have realized that without you having to point it out. Where can I get the plans for this thing? I would make one that wasn't adjustable for longitude but there is no way to just build this thing to look like yours without having the correct measurements.@@DavidMorris-pq4jq
How can I get one?
bonjour
peut on avoir la décomposition du procédé pour pouvoir faire les differentes pieces selon l'endroit ou l'on se trouve et avoir le meme type de cadran solaire, merci
can you write your question in English? I'd be happy to tell you how I built it......
it is built to work anywhere. You just have to set it up for where you are. Feel free to ask any specific details.
Are there plans for this dial anywhere?
Go to Amazon and look for "Sundials" by R. Newton Mayall and Margaret W. Mayall. This book has been somewhat hard to find, and the edition they are selling is slightly different from mine, but I think it is all there. Their design is quite a bit simpler (except for laying out the Analemma) I created a curved target rather than the flat one they show in the book. But otherwise the one in the book is much simpler than mine! Works the same, though. Lots of other useful and interesting information in the book too. Well worth the read!
do you know someone else that can make these
Hi Tom.. I m a very amateur woodworker. Most of the tools I used were just hand tools picked up at Harbor Freight or one of the other hardware stores. Nothing fancy at all. For layout, just a big protractor and some careful measuring, then a wood burning kit for the markings. Just a lot of manual labor! And a lot of thinking! The book I used is called "Sundials, how to know, use, and make them" from Sky Publishing Corp. I looked on Amazon, and it seems they are no longer available. So the best I could suggest is to find someone who is reasonably good with woodworking, or better yet, if you actually want to use it outside, someone who can do some metalworking, and have them make one. If you find such a person, I could maybe photo copy the pages from the book and send them, then would be willing to correspond by email or something if there are any questions. The original plans in the book are very different from the one in the video, though I did make a couple close to the original plans before modifying it to the one you see there. I modified it a lot, and made it more functional and artistic. The concept is simple, and the operation is simple, but very accurate. So let me know, because I'd be happy to help out any way I can for someone who would like to know how to build one, and maybe even make a few crude drawings to illustrate it. I'd love to see more of these out there! For sure if I had the ability, I'd make them myself and sell them!Equatorial Sundials on line and RUclips. This is just a modified and enhanced version of the same.
How did you get the accurate analemma ?
Here is the website I used: www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html I simply printed it out, then scaled it up or down using a copy machine to get it to the size I wanted. Let me know if that helped!
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq Thank you, did you use a 'lazy Susan' for the body of the sundial? I think I hear the bearings rattle.
Did you just turn this upside down? I am also curious, did you just look at the radius from the hole to the scale and figure out how long the analemma needed to be to cover 47 degrees?
All the parts were cut from a sheet of plywood, using a router and circle cutting attachment. The "bearing" you see in the center is an old CD. I am making another entire dial from aluminum, which hopefully should be a bit more weather resistant! And yes, that is exactly what I did to figure out the length of the analemma. I drew it all out to scale on a piece of paper then figured what size to make everything. You don't really need to make a curved back plate. The book I have shows it to be just a strait, or flat, piece. It probably wouldn't make a lot of difference, but I figured a curved plate would be slightly more accurate, and looks good anyway. To be honest, the size of the project was determined by the size of some of the parts left over from building a telescope a number of years earlier. Then I made another, smaller, and slightly different design dial from the left over parts of the one you see in the video...
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq yes, I see that. Fantastic design, I'll be modifying it slightly, adding a declination scale, settings for longitude and DST/ST and a vernier scale for the minutes. Should be an interesting build for my channel.
I will be interested in seeing what you come up with! I do have a declination scale, but not very accurate. I don't have good machining skills, so my markings are not totally accurate. Close enough, but I use a digital level to get it precise. My outer dial can be rotated to make the changes from daylight to standard time. There are several different ways to do that, or just etch both times on the surface. Will love to see your final build!
How do you make one?
I'm not sure exactly what your question is, but the basic design came from a book called "Sundials" by R. Newton Mayall and Margaret W Mayall. I think that book is still available on Amazon. I found an image of an Analemma here: www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html I just printed it out, and then traced it to the back plate, then in one case wood burned the image onto the plate using a wood burning kit, in another case, used an archival ink pen, then covered everything with several coats of varnish. The rest of the design and construction was very much my own, based somewhat on a couple of old photographs, which design I also modified to my own abilities. It can certainly be made more simply than this one, and work just as well. I would not leave this one out in the weather much, as it is just made of wood, but I am working on a design that I can construct using copper plating.
Thanks for looking, and for your question. If you have anything more specific you'd like to know, I will be happy to try to answer.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq What is the curve of the analemma wood piece?
@@ethanweyn752 The curve is simply the radius from the targeting hole (What else should I call it??) on the front piece. The original design in the book I mentioned showed that piece as a simple straight piece of wood. The problem with that is that the analemma would have to be distorted somewhat at either extreme (top and bottom). You probably wouldn't notice it in real life, but I just wanted to be more precise. Artistic too, I think! The curve makes all parts of the analemma the same distance from the targeting hole. I'm just hoping the analemma I downloaded from the internet is accurately drawn. My test dial seems to be working pretty well, though that back piece is flat on my first attempt.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq Beautiful work, I'd call the radius the 'focal point'? Nice job, I want to make an an Armillary sundial, being a metal man it seems more suitable for me.
@@user-rh7cs9pv6b Thank you! I am trying to figure out how to make one out of metal myself. The etching of the markings and also welding or soldering the parts together has me a bit stumped. But for sure, metal would be better! I did make an Armillary dial out of knitting hoops! Primitive, but it does work! Sort of....!
could you make me one
🙂 I think I have probably built my last one. I don't have access to some of the tools I used to build the one in my video. I did make one out of aluminum so I can leave it outside. If I ever built another one, I'd like to make it out of brass, and perhaps have the markings etched in professionally, rather than hand drawn like the one in the video. I actually built 4 of them, adding improvements in each one. But thanks for the comment! If I had the equipment, I'd like to make them commercially, because there just aren't many like that out there.
Simple? Are you kidding?
Maybe I meant the operation of it! Who knows what I was thinking a few years ago! I have seen some much more complicated designs to use or understand or to build. My main tools for this one, was a table saw, a router, a hole cutting attachment for the router, and some elbow grease. A couple of large protractors and rulers and a wood burning kit.....
Wish people would tell how to make these calculations and accurately draw.
I think this will help: www.mysundial.ca/tsp/analemmic_sundial.html I found this on the web, printed it out, then figured exactly what length it needed to be, so took it to a copy machine and scaled it up or down to get the dimensions I needed, then simply traced the "8" onto the target (curved) plate. The rest of the dial was laid out using a large protractor I picked up at Harbor freight. For Latitude, I simply looked at my GPS, figured my Latitude angel, then used my smart phone level, or any digital level, to set your own Latitude. Mine is around 34* Feel free to ask any other question. Hope the link works.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jq Thank you so much!!
Great device and video! Can I ask what the radiius of the Month figure 8 piece of plywood is please?
Thanks for your question. The front of the swing arm has the little hole in it, and the curved piece with the figure 8 on it is the radius from that hole to the 8. The pivot is 1/2 way between them So I have two dials, one the radius is 8", the other is smaller and the radius is 6" So the distance from the targeting hole to the "8" is the same from top to bottom. So whatever size your dial is, the radius is from the front targeting hole to the curved piece. Hope that helps! Feel free to ask any other questions.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqSuper, thank you.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqDare I suggest you make a build-along video for us novices 🙂
@@MauriceJayMusic Making me laugh! It is hard to make a video of something I built 3 years ago! I do have a few snapshots of it in pieces. Mine is also unnecessarily complicated. There are easier ways to build it. Not as pretty, but just as functional I got the idea from a book called "Sundials, How to Know, Use, and make them". by R. Newton Mayall and Margaret W. Mayall. Unfortunately it is out of print as far as looking on Amazon is concerned. I am also not sure how to add some still shots to a video already posted. I do have some photos of a much simpler version I built at first, but again, just single shots. If I knew how to send you a single shot, or several of them, I would. Otherwise feel free to keep asking questions.
Just a hint, The complex separate rotating dial rotating around a smaller inner wheel can be a single piece, mounted to a flat board, which is hinged at the bottom to another flat board, with an adjustable arm to set the declination. The single round dial can have a slotted hole at the bottom for making adjustments for wherever you are within your own time zone, or between standard time and daylight savings time.. I didn't have any plans other than the simple one in the book mentioned above. All the other adjustments were pretty much invented in my head as I went along. I made several versions before finally doing the one in the video. I later made one out of aluminum.
I appreciate your interest (and anyone else's) and am happy to answer any other questions.
@@DavidMorris-pq4jqThank you again squire for the reply.... looks like I will be spending the next 6 months pondering time, angles and our solar system :-)