Square Sunclock - Northern Hemisphere - Fixed Customizer

thingiverse

**************** FIXED! The Customizer REALLY didn't like the line of numbers as strings, and stripped them out, and the numbers didn't appear on the dial! I've done a work around, and added Roman Numerals! **************** Heavily influenced, and some code is based on "Customizable Sundial" by doctek Feb 17, 2013, https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:51183 I wanted a square version of doctek's clock, so here it is to share with you all! My sundial only works in the Northern hemisphere. I don't think sundials caught on in the Southern hemisphere because the "clock" runs backwards, anti-clockwise! To get an accurate time the sundials numbers need to have their angles adjusted, and the spike sticking out needs to be tilted all depending on where you are in the North. doctek's written some great instructions for setting up your sundial over there. I found typing into google "[location] latitude"..... for instance "paris latitude", and google displays at the top - "Paris / Coordinates 48.8566° N, 2.3522° E" You can enter these into the OpenSCAD script right up at the top. These give the program what it needs to adjust the numerical dial, and the spike so the time is correct. Does it work? I've checked the sundial works from a real one I printed out, along with one I rendered with a program that emulates the sun accurately that I could test in different positions across the earth. As you can see in the images - the simulated sun is at it's 3 o'clock position in the sky where I live, and my model shows the shadow falling at 3pm. Success! It works for other Northern locations just fine.