Vertical sundial

For this project, I used some scrap steel roofing sheets. It only looked bad but in fact, it had a protective film on it. A couple of days prior to that build I printed out the template and tested it. I was very happy with its accuracy. No astronomical knowledge was needed as all the work was done by the script on a website. However, it’s good to know how it works.

I glued the template to the sheet with contact adhesive. Using my razor-sharp snips I quickly cut out the shape. Next, I punched some holes and flattened the sheet with a rubber mallet. Removing the template was easy as the sheet had a protective plastic film on it, as I mentioned earlier.

I drilled 4 holes and filed down the sharp edges. That exposed some metal and had to be painted to protect the surface. That wasn’t actually the only reason I used paint … by mistake, I connected the wrong dots with my nail punch/scratch awl.

Not to make the same mistake again I paid a little more attention this time. I used a nail to scratch the paint in tight corners.

Screwed to the wall at the point of specific latitude, longitude and declination. I got some rays throughout the day and was able to check its accuracy. It’s not bad at all! The pictures were taken at 11:52, 12:56, 18:06 and 18:45.