Yet Another Customizable Table Sundial

thingiverse

I started learning OpenSCAD by building doctec's sundial, a real-life object to grasp its design principles. Initially, I was confused and simplified the design to understand its core components. With that foundation, I created my own dial. My sundial is suitable for moderate latitudes in the northern hemisphere and should work just as well in the southern hemisphere at similar latitudes. Several key concepts guided me: * The sun reaches its highest point directly south (or north) when it's at its peak. * The sun revolves around a plane perpendicular to Earth's rotation axis over 24 hours. * The elevation of the sun at its highest point varies throughout the year. * The gnomon can be made as thick as desired without distorting time readings. Since the sundial relies on your specific location, it's pointless to include STL files here. You'll need to create your own model using OpenSCAD. This isn't difficult: 1. Download HorizDial.scad from thingiverse.com and remember where you saved it. 2. Get the OpenSCAD installer from www.openscad.org. 3. Run the installer and note the installation directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\OpenSCAD on Win10). 4. Launch openscad.exe from this directory. 5. Open HorizDial.scad in OpenSCAD. 6. Adjust the variables 'label', 'latitude', 'longitude', and 'timeZone' according to your location. Instructions are found within the source code. 7. Generate your sundial by rendering it (F6 or Design > Render). This might take a few minutes; monitor the progress bar at the bottom. 8. Export the sundial as an STL file (F7 or File > Export > Export as STL...), choosing a suitable directory and filename. 9. Use this STL file as input for your slicer program.