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History of Sundials

Why the Sun Dial keeps time

Developing and Making Sundials

Sundial Materials

Sundial Hour Lines Lay out

Sundial "Furniture"

Declination Lines of Sundials

Portable Sundials

Interesting Sundials of the World

SUNDIAL MATERIALS - Page 15

The usual procedure is to get the proper tools for the material. Why not put the cart before the horse and get the material for the tools at hand. Because the tools at hand were poor, medium soft lead was used to make the sundial described in another section of this sundial websiteI. The materials commonly used in making sundials are well seasoned wood, metal, and stone. Lead, brass, and bronze comprise the metal group. Granite, limestone and marble are the more common stones. Before we go into more detail about these materials, consider the factors that more or less govern their selection. In addition to appearance, the ease with which a shadow can be seen is of vital importance. Background color affects this more than anything else. Certain colors such as those just off the white-cream, light gray, and so forth, will catch the shadow when there is very little sun; whereas the dark gray of lead, the natural weathered finish of brass or copper, or lacquered brass or copper need brilliant sunlight. While this may seem of relatively little importance, in some sundials it is all important. To the novice, workability is another factor which affects the choice of material. Not many sundials are made of wood, yet it is a serviceable material that goes well with many others, and is easily "worked". Wood, after a short exposure to the weather, has an appearance of age that is hard to imitate by artificial means.

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