AT recent times the owners of suburban areas are more and more striving to decorate their homestead territories in some unusual and original way, using those structural elements, thanks to which the site will become truly refined and unique. If we are talking about a European garden, then here it is a sundial that will fill the territory with a special philosophy. Today we will find out, but first, we will deal with some important points.
Interesting fact! Did you know that a garden labyrinth can be made with your own hands? If you want to know more, read on.
A brief historical excursion
The sundial gained particular popularity in the 17th-18th centuries and was used mainly in classical-style gardens - at first in, and soon in. For the first time they gained popularity as part of palace ensembles, but their mass distribution is associated with the transformation of clocks into an independent element of decorative gardens, which, by the way, were performed in a wide variety of styles.
It is often said that Europe is not a suitable place for creating a sundial on the site, they say, this is just another attempt to stand out among other summer residents, and to no avail. And they say this because our climate is not suitable for this, since there are many cloudy days in it. You will be surprised, but all this is just another delusion! For example, in England, with its frequent fogs, rare classical gardens do without this decorative element.
Video - Making a sundial
On the role of the element in the landscape
Usually, the sundial is located in the center of the flower bed and is the dominant element, since it is located on a pedestal or other hill. Also note that the pedestal is important element this composition, which is sometimes performed in the form of a column.
Sundial are designed to attract attention, for this reason their size is directly related to the size of a particular area. If the area is insignificant, then it is advisable to install the clock on a path, next to a lawn or a small but bright flower garden. But in a landscape or forest garden, it is better to surround them with flowers so that they, imperceptible from afar, suddenly appear before your eyes when you approach. In addition, in small gardens, sundials are often installed in the form of decorative figurines.
Thanks to the huge variety of materials and shapes used in the creation of watches, it is possible to obtain a design taking into account the characteristics of the garden where it was created. So, if the garden is in an avant-garde style, but when making a sundial, the smallest details should be taken into account. Here the clock can become a component of a recreation area, a playground or even a gazebo. Moreover, they can effectively decorate a garden pond or fountain.
There is a concept of "living hours". This is another option for how to make a sundial with your own hands, but already with the use of flowering living plants, which will serve as material for the formation of the dial and hands.
Sundial design
Any sundial is based on two elements:
- frame is a flat surface on which the corresponding markings (dial) are applied;
- gnomon is a rod that is attached to this surface.
Any material that is resistant to atmospheric factors can be used for the manufacture of watches. This can be stone, cement, iron, wood, plastic, or even gravel. It is desirable that the dial be light (it can be white marble, limestone, etc.): so the shadow from the gnomon will be more noticeable. And the gnomon itself, by the way, can be made from long nails, plastic pins or knitting needles.
Note! The pointer should be slightly longer than the dial circumference.
Such watches are able to decorate and revive any landscape. Especially if live plants were used for it, not exceeding 50 centimeters in height. For example, calendula flowers bloom at about 6 a.m. and close at 4 p.m. (even if the day is cloudy).
The main types of watches
It just so happened historically that sundials can be of three types. Let's get acquainted with each of them.
- Vertical elements are mainly installed on building walls, pillars or fences. Kadran in them "looks" exclusively to the south, at an acute angle (or at an angle of 90 degrees) relative to the noon line. It is also important that the gnomon is positioned slightly above the core of the dial - it should be tilted south, approximately 90 degrees from the vertical line (the geographical latitude of the region is subtracted).
- A distinctive feature of horizontal clocks is that they are able to show the time all year round, even if their indicators in winter and autumn are not entirely reliable. In such structures, the gnomon is at an angle relative to the horizontal, equal to the geographical latitude of a particular region. The horizontal clock can be installed in the middle of a lawn, flower bed or garden pond. In addition, stones or stumps can be used for digital divisions.
- Equatorial clocks have one significant drawback: they accurately show the time only during a certain period of the year. For example, for the northern regions, the "exact" period is between March 22nd and September 22nd. But given that the summer cottage season lasts from late spring to early autumn, this will be quite enough.
Now let's talk about the features of the installation process itself. In principle, it is already shown in the image below, but the dial in this case was actually made for solar time, that is, for those regions where noon occurs exactly at twelve zero-zero, in fact, as it should be.
But, unfortunately, in different places, noon occurs at different times - far from 12 o'clock. Therefore, if your plans include seeing the local time on the dial, then it (the dial) will have to be slightly modernized. To do this, the numbers on it must be shifted around the axis so that the shortest shadow (namely, it will be observed at noon) moves just along the midday line (north / south).
But the procedure for finding the midday line is already a separate story, but you need to know about it before how to make a sundial with your own hands... So, the compass in this case is unlikely to help, since the magnetic and geographic poles of the planet do not coincide: for St. Petersburg, for example, it is about 8 degrees - that is, the "gap" averages 30 minutes, which is not so little ... The most primitive way is as follows: take a sheet of plywood, stick a screw or nail into it at an angle of 90 degrees, then lay the plywood on a horizontal surface and note the movement of the shadow from the pin every fifteen minutes. After that, having connected all the points with a line of an hour in 3 hours, define the smallest shadow - it will be the same midday line.
Note! Another practical advice, which will guide you in making according to the instructions below: before starting to use stone or metal, it is advisable to practice with plywood. If you spoil it, then nothing terrible will happen, but you will have practical experience.
And the last important point. If we are talking about a really good equatorial sundial with a flat frame, then they should have two dials at once - on the lower and upper planes. The first will work from autumn to spring, the second - from spring to autumn. Although, as noted above, this does not play a special role for the suburban area, since they live on it mainly in summer timetherefore, one dial is enough for your head.
Before starting work, you should decide on the location. It is advisable to install them on a flower bed or a lawn, where sunlight will be available throughout the day. Tellingly, the watch can be placed both on a flat and on an inclined surface (although in the second option, remember that to get a shadow of the same length throughout the day, you should correctly determine the required angle of inclination). To calculate it, a special formula is used: 90 degrees are taken and the latitude of the region where your summer cottage is located is subtracted from them. But in the case of a flat surface, the length of the shadow falling from the gnomon will change throughout the day.
Of course, a shadow of constant length will look more impressive, although this is not essential for the simple reason that the length of the shadow from the gnomon can be increased mentally.
Video - Sundial in the landscape
After choosing a location, you can start creating a watch face. Its shape, let's make a reservation right away, may be different, but in most cases, preference is given to the good old classics - a circle or a square - since it is these figures that are easiest to recreate. And if you don't know how to make a sundial with your own hands and from what, we answer: a variety of materials can be used for this. Among them, we highlight:
- a rock;
- driftwood of unusual shapes;
- coniferous perennial plants;
- bright flowering plants, etc.
All this can be used to form clock divisions on the frame. But how do you divide the area into these divisions? Take a watch (electronic or mechanical - no difference) and, based on its readings, every hour, note the position of the shadow cast by the gnomon during the day.
It is advisable to do this on the day that is characterized by the greatest duration. Mark each number with a peg - this will give you different angles between the marks.
Note! If we talk about the gnomon himself, then he is the main element of the structure, since the shadow cast by him is a kind of hour hand indicating the exact time.
The final stage will be the design of the watch. First, consider how you will position the hour markers so that the crops planted next to each number are provided with everything you need to normal development and growth. To do this, for example, you can indicate even numbers on the outer circle of the frame, and odd ones on the inner one. The diameter of these circles should be approximately 4 meters and 1.5 meters, respectively. It is also important that the plants used for the composition do not grow higher than 50 centimeters, otherwise the gnomon's shadow will obscure them.
Now - directly to work!
Instructions for making a sundial
The simplest design of a watch is exactly horizontal, so it can be made even for a couple with your child.
In fact, they can even be created on the ground. To do this, draw an even circle, in the center of which stick a stick - it will serve you as a gnomon. Draw a straight line from the center of the circle to the north - this will be noon astronomical time. Then divide the circle into twenty-four equal sectors. Tilt the stick towards the north at an angle that matches the latitude of your particular area. As a result, each of the sectors will correspond to 15 degrees.
Note! Such a sundial will show a different time than an ordinary watch. After all, solar time, as you know, is not the same as the time of the earth's time zones.
Now consider how to make a sundial with your own hands, but already of a portable type. This will require a small cardboard box (always flat), which you can glue with paper to match the color of the wood for showiness.
If we are talking about a suburban area, then there you can use an even round cut of a tree or a flat boulder, and install it at the intersection of garden paths. Draw a rectangular dial on the surface (if the surface is round, draw a circle). Draw a line in the center, cut through it to fix the gnomon. The main part of the construction is ready!
Now make the gnomon itself, for which you need to determine the latitude of the area where you live. For its manufacture, you can use both plastic and thick cardboard. Take a compass to set the clock correctly. Direct the sharp part of the gnomon to the south, while the northern direction will correspond to noon. Insert the gnomon into the gap, glue the joints with glue.
To create tick marks, mark the location of the drop shadow every hour. If you divide the surface into twenty-four parts, then the clock will show solar time. That's all, good luck with your work!
Finally I took the time to write an article about making a sundial with my own hands. I was prompted to write this material by valuable comments and edits from user Alexander. At first glance, the creation of a sundial is not entirely survival-related. But having understood the principle of operation of a sundial and constructing several samples, you will better understand the principles of orientation, determining geographic coordinates, and so on. In general, making a sundial with your own hands is a very exciting activity. I hope this topic will be of interest to a wide range of readers of our site.
As you know, the sundial is one of the oldest scientific instruments used by our ancestors to determine time. We, in addition to directly determining the time, are interested in understanding the principles of the clock, which are based on the principles of orientation. There are many types of sundials. Let's try to consider some of them.
In its simplest form, a sundial consists of a gnomon casting a shadow from the sun on the dial. The shadow works by analogy with the arrow in a regular watch. By the same principle, an impromptu gnomon is used to determine latitude and longitude, where solar time and local noon are required.
The sundial does not show local mean time, but true solar time. If you want to see the local time, then you need to correct and shift the values \u200b\u200bof the dial. Since the true noon may differ from the local one by another hour. Pledge correct definition time is a clock correctly oriented in space.
If the gnomon is perpendicular to the plane of the dial and directed to the world pole, that is, parallel to the axis of the world, then the shadow cast from it will fall into the plane of the hour circle. In other words, the plane of the dial will be parallel to the plane of the equator. The resulting angle between the plane of the hour circle and the meridian will be the true solar time, expressed in degrees.
Hour divisions are evenly applied to the dial every 15 °, based on the fact that 1 hour in angular measurement is 15 °. It is such a segment that the Earth passes during 1 hour of its rotation. In the horizontal plane, the equatorial clock should be set exactly to True North for the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa for the Southern Hemisphere. Moreover, the dial for the Southern Hemisphere will have a mirror copy of the Northern. For Russia, the first option is still more relevant.
It is not entirely correct to use a compass to find the North-South line, since the compass direction to the North differs from the true one by the value of the magnetic declination, which can reach 7-8 °, which will be an error of up to half an hour. Although it is possible to find out the magnetic declination and the annual magnetic declination from topographic maps of the area and calculate this value at the moment. It is necessary to determine the true noon of the area, then the shadow from the gnomon will point to the true North.
The advantage of the equatorial watch is its ease of manufacture and uniformity of dial graduation. The main disadvantage of equatorial sundials, unlike other types, is their limited use - they will work only between the spring and autumn equinoxes. For the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal equinox is in March, and the autumn equinox is in September.
The following layout of the Advanced Equatorial Sundial allows for almost unlimited use thanks to the dial on the back.
Northern Hemisphere - June 1:00 PM Northern Hemisphere - December 11:00 AM
A mock-up of an equatorial sundial for DIY can be downloaded here
All that is needed is to print the layout on a printer in the original scale on thick paper, or stick it on cardboard or thin plastic. You can check the scale of the printed model of the sundial with a ruler on the inch scale shown on one of the sheets. In the archive there are 3 sizes of equatorial clocks for the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Choose the one that you like, but the larger size is more descriptive and accurate. You also need to find a rod for making a gnomon.
After gluing the layout, the clock must be positioned along the true noon line and set the latitude on the back. And you don't even need to calculate the angle of inclination of the dial using the formula 90 ° -φ, where φ is latitude. Just connect the reverse of the gnomon to the latitude of your area. And you can enjoy the ancient way of measuring time))
In contrast to the equatorial sundial, the horizontal dial is parallel to the horizon. Therefore, the dial is unevenly graduated. In the afternoon, the shadow turns to a greater angle every next hour. As a rule, a horizontal watch has a gnomon made in the form of a triangular shape with a side directed to the pole of the world, i.e. the angle between it and the plane of the dial will be equal to the geographical latitude.
I have not yet found a simple but interesting layout of a horizontal sundial.
Another type of simple sundial. A special feature is the location of the dial line in the West - East direction. All you need is to print the layout, stick it on cardboard, and set the angle of inclination of the dial with the gnomon to the latitude of your area using the scale on the back of the watch.
This is probably the oldest scientific instrument that has come down to us unchanged and represents the first application by man of his knowledge of the motion of celestial bodies.
Although a wide variety of sundials are known, they can all be classified into several basic types. The most common watches horizontal type; they can be seen in many parks and gardens. Clock with vertical dials are usually found on walls oriented to the cardinal points. Turned the dial is made for vertical clocks placed on walls that are not oriented to the cardinal points. AND rejected and bowed the dials are tilted away from and towards the observer, respectively. They are usually found on multi-sided watches that have three or more dials and are often cube-shaped; they are placed on rooftops and wall crests oriented to the cardinal points. Rotated-deflectedand tilteddials are placed on buildings not oriented to the cardinal points. Have equatorialand polar The clock plane of the dials is parallel to the plane of the equator and the polar axis, respectively. Armillary the watch has an equatorial dial; they are often used for decorative purposes. They contain from two to ten rings, representing large circles of the earthly and celestial spheres. Hour markings are drawn within the equatorial circle, and the shadow casting gnomon serves as a bar representing the polar axis.
The oldest known sundials were made around 1500 BC. They are made of stone in the form of a bar about 30 cm long with a vertical T-shaped pommel at one end. Time was counted by notches on the bar at unequal intervals. The clock was set horizontally along a plumb line. The T-shaped end was turned east in the morning and west in the afternoon. The shadow from the top edge of the "T" indicated the time. These and other ancient solar instruments showed "unequal clocks" resulting from dividing the time from sunrise to sunset by a fixed number of parts. Since the length of daylight varies throughout the year, the length of the hour also changed: in summer it was longer, and in winter it was shorter.
It was not difficult to make such a watch. Many of them had hour lines for certain days of the year, separated by about a month, and for the dates of the equinoxes and solstices. Hour marks for each day were obtained by connecting the points on which the shadow cast by the gnomon on the days of the equinox and solstice fell at a given hour.
Around the beginning of the Christian era, the principle of the inclined gnomon was discovered, which made it possible to introduce "equal hours", which ensured more accurate time keeping. It was found that if the gnomon's rod is directed to the pole of the world, then it will, as it were, become the axis of that circle parallel to the equator, along which the Sun revolves. Dividing it into 24 equal parts, we got hours of the same duration. Thereafter, making an accurate and evenly running sundial became a simple geometric and trigonometric exercise.
The evolution of the sundial went alongside the development of mathematics and astronomy. However, for many centuries the art of making sundials was owned only by masters familiar with gnomonics. From the 14th to the 18th century, many artisans showed ingenuity and skill in the manufacture of precision pocket sundials, which became jewels of watchmaking.
Emergence mechanical watch did not abolish until the 18th century. using a sundial to keep time. The makers of sundials have been keeping pace with the designers of mechanical watches by inventing solar devices to determine the "mean time". When "standard time" was introduced, the sundial was adapted for this as well. (Standard time is the mean solar time at a particular meridian.) In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many very accurate sundials were made to determine the standard time, called heliochronometers.
Clock construction.
For a sundial to be useful, it must be erected in a suitable location. The latitude of the place must be known, as well as the position relative to the horizon and meridian of the site or surface on which the hour lines will be drawn.
The most important parts of the sundial are clock face, i.e. the surface on which the hour lines are drawn, and gnomon to cast a shadow. Pointer, i.e. that edge of the gnomon, whose shadow indicates the time, is always directed to the pole of the world. Pointer height Is the angle at which the pointer is tilted to the dial, and the dial center (the point from which the hour lines radiate out) is the point where the pointer intersects with the dial plane. A node is a special point on a pointer, the shadow of which is used to read altitude, declination and azimuth, as well as time.
Methods for determining the time by the sun.
There are three methods for determining the time from the sun: by measuring its hour angle from the meridian, as in a conventional garden sundial; by measuring its height above the horizon and by its azimuth (the angle measured in the plane of the horizon, between the direction to the south point and the vertical circle passing through the sun), which requires a vertical pointer at the gnomon. Most stationary sundials measure the hour angle. The other two methods are often used in portable watches.
There are also three ways to indicate time: a shadow, a point of light and a magnetic hand. Most watches use shadow. Light is rarely used in stationary clocks. And in portable use all three methods. Magnetic hand watches are of two types. In the first, hour markers are made on the body of a compass, which is usually square. Turning the case so that the shadows on its side faces disappear, read the time in the direction of the arrow. In devices of the second type, hour markers are applied to an elliptical belt that moves in accordance with the day of the year, as in many azimuth clocks. In this case, the body is also turned until the shadow on the side faces disappears and the time is read in the direction of the arrow. This type of watch is more accurate; their error is determined only by the fact that the magnetic needle deviates from the true direction to the north.
Instructions
The pillar, which was used as a clock, was called a gnomon. The sundial is a device for determining the time by changing the length of the shadow from the gnomon and its movement along the dial. The appearance of this clock is associated with the moment when a person realized the relationship between the length and position of the sun's shadow from certain objects and the position of the sun in the sky. One of the first sundials found in the Naut burial (Ireland) dates back to 5000 BC. Obelisks Ancient egypt and Babylon were used to determine the time of day from the length of the shadow.
The greatest philosophers and mathematicians were engaged in the improvement of sundials Ancient Greece - Anaximander, Anaximenes, Eudoxus, Aristarchus. The ancient peoples did not have the division of the day into 24 equal parts. They divided the daylight hours for 12 hours, from dawn to sunset, so the length of the hour was different at different times of the year. In the ancient sundial - the scaphis - the time was determined by the length of the shadow cast by the gnomon on the surface of a spherical notch marked with complex curves. With the introduction of equal hours of day and night, time began to be determined not by the length of the shadow, but by its direction.
The simplest sundial shows solar time, that is, does not take into account the division of the Earth into time zones. You can use the sundial only during the day and in the presence of the sun. On a sunny day, any pillar casts a shadow. To find out how long it was, people measured the shadow in steps. In the morning it was longer, at noon it became very short, and in the evening it lengthened again. For many peoples, these obelisks served at the same time to worship the cult of the sun god.
A working model of a sundial is displayed in the courtyard of the Museum of Antiquities of the Kerch Historical and Cultural Reserve. Now anyone can see how the ancient Greeks who lived on the territory of Kerch hundreds of years ago measured time. This is a working model, the original is kept in the exposition, museum visitors can see it. This replica watch was installed taking into account all local peculiarities and really counts the time on a sunny day.
There are horizontal, vertical sundials (if the plane of the dial is vertical and directed from west to east), morning or evening (the plane is vertical, from north to south). Conical, spherical, cylindrical sundials were also built. In addition to watches made of precious and common metals, stone, wood and paper, people also looked for primitive ways of measuring time by the shadow, when the only aid for this was a human hand with five fingers.
The simplest way to measure time with the so-called sundial was that left hand turned palm up and its pointing up thumb served as a shadow arrow. Depending on the length of this shadow in comparison with the rest of the fingers of the hand, it was possible to roughly determine the time. This simple way of measuring time has persisted among the rural population for a very long time. A short twig the length of the little finger, held perpendicularly between the little finger and ring finger, was sufficient as a shadow pointer.
Hello dear readers of KARTONKINO.ru! Spring ... Somewhere it is already in full swing, somewhere they are still waiting for its arrival, in a month or two, but the sun shines brighter and longer everywhere. And we have a great opportunity to put the sunshine into action by making dIY sundial... Of course, they will not replace the traditional - mechanical and electronic - watches, but this homemade product is very entertaining, and for the younger generation it is also informative, because the model of the sundial that we will make is the most effective one, and its manufacturing will require some knowledge of astronomy and trigonometry.
There are many varieties of this ancient device for measuring time. But among all the variety of sundials ever used, the following types are distinguished as basic or classic:
— equatorial (for such a sundial, the plane of the frame (dial) is parallel to the equator, and the gnomon (the part that casts a shadow), usually a metal rod, is parallel to the earth's axis);
Equatorial sundial on the banks of the Thames (London, England)
— horizontal (the plane of the frame is parallel to the plane of the horizon, and the gnomon has the shape of a triangle, one of the sides of which is inclined to the plane of the frame at an angle equal to the latitude of the place where the clock is installed);
Horizontal sundial (Limassol, Cyprus)
— vertical (as the name suggests, the dial of such a watch is placed in a vertical plane, usually on the walls of buildings).
Wall sundial (Ely Cathedral, England)
We will make an equatorial-type sundial, as the easiest to manufacture. Due to the fact that the dial is set parallel to the equator, and the sun moves along celestial sphere almost evenly, the shadow from the gnomon will shift by an angle equal to 15 ° for every hour. Therefore, hour divisions on the dial are applied in the same way as in ordinary watches, only the marks need not 12, but 24. It is clear that the upper part of the dial is hardly useful, except for the inhabitants of the arctic, when the polar day comes and the sun shines around the clock.
There is no need to draw the dial yourself, you can use ready-made templates - round or square (whichever you prefer):
Our task is to correctly orient the sundial in space. The angle of inclination of the dial relative to the horizontal plane is determined as follows:
α \u003d 90 ° -φ,
where φ is the geographiclatitude. You can find out the latitude of your place of residence on a map or on Wikipedia.
And knowing the necessary angles, it is very easy to make an inclined stand made of cardboard or paper for our sundial and then stick a printed dial on it or prepare a scan of the watch case with the applied dial image in a graphic editor.
We know the dimensions of the dial template. The side of the case is a right-angled triangle. Thus, we know the length of the hypotenuse C and the angles of the triangle, and the lengths of the legs A and B are calculated using the trigonometric formulas:
A \u003d C × sinα
B \u003d C × cosα
It remains only to draw a sweep according to the dimensions obtained, it is possible even without side walls.
I made a case with an opening back cover (I will explain below why):
Whatever you do, it still turns out a box
Well, now you need to install a gnomon in the center of the dial. To do this, you can use any suitable rod (for example, a plastic straw from a bag of juice). And you can also make it out of cardboard or paper:
- cut out a rectangular strip 60 mm wide (the length is determined empirically, by eye, so that when folded, a dense tube with a diameter of about 5-6 mm with a small hole is obtained);
- glue double-sided tape on 1 edge and roll up the tube;
- cut out another rectangular strip 15-20 mm wide and also roll it up into a tube with a diameter that matches the diameter of the opening of the first tube;
- cut off part of the first tube at a distance of 10 mm from the edge (this will be something like a nut)
and connect the parts;
- we fix the gnomon on the dial, fixing it on the reverse side with a “nut” (this is where the opening cover came in handy).
The sundial is ready. Now, in order for them to work correctly, you need to place them in a sunlit place (on a windowsill, on a balcony, etc.) so that the gnomon "looks" to the north (the direction is determined by the compass).
Of course, you shouldn't wait for the exact coincidence of the readings of such a sundial with the readings of an ordinary watch. Firstly, the sundial, which shows true solar time, does not take into account the standard time in a particular area. Secondly, do not forget that the magnetic and geographic poles of the Earth have a discrepancy, and the fact that we oriented the clock along the magnetic pole will also introduce some error.
And finally, the main point, which will also have to be reckoned with, is that the equatorial clock works only between the days of the spring and autumn equinox. The rest of the time the upper surface of the frame will be in the shadow. But the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere is coming soon, so there is not long to wait. There is just enough time to make a sundial with your own hands and set it up for work.
Successful experiments!
Did you like the article? There is still a lot of interesting things ahead - subscribe to updates and receive announcements directly to your mail!
By the way, a new master class on making sundials is already ready. This time we are talking about a horizontal pocket watch model.
Until next time in KARTONKINO!