portable universal sundial

thingiverse

This is a working model of an ancient portable sundial. The "all" STL file is provided for visual purposes and isn't intended for printing. To assemble, print one each of outerring, innerring, bridge, hanger; two copies of peephole, and three copies of pivot. Attach the hanger to the outer ring, then place the inner ring inside the outer ring with pivot holes aligned. Two pivots should fit into both sets of holes, allowing the inner ring to swing out 90 degrees before hitting stops. Next, insert the remaining pivot into the bridge's hole and attach it to supports on the outer ring using a small screwdriver. Finally, fit the peephole parts together and slide them up and down within the bridge. The outer ring has 5-degree marks, and the inner ring has 24 marks (unfortunately, engraving is not readable). The bridge shows month letters for reading. Set the dial to your latitude by rotating the hanger on the outer ring and aligning it with the bridge for the North Pole or pivots on the inner ring for the Equator. Adjust the peephole to correspond with the current month, then hang the dial by the hanger. Align the sun through the peephole and hitting the inner ring's indentation line to determine time - count the marks on the inner ring (6 O'clock is at pivot points). Accuracy can be within half an hour with practice. Note that some parts have been edited for easier printing, and all STL files have gone through Netfabb due to reported slicing issues.