Polar Sundial Designer

Description

Polar Sundials are positioned on a flat level surface, angled across their width to the location Latitude and oriented lengthwise East - West.

Features and Applications

The Gnomon of a Polar Sundial is commonly the top edge of a rectangular plate set perpendicular to, and across the centre of, a main 'Dial Plate' and points to True North. Since, as with all Sundials, the Gnomon must remain parallel to the Earth's vertical axis, the entire Gnomon and Dial Plate assembly must be set at an angle to the horizontal which is equal to the Latitude of its location.

Designer

Click on the pencil-shaped Edit icon below to show or hide variables and click inside table to alter values (scroll to see all).
Left or Right click on the screen display or use Scroll Wheel to alter view and Left click on Zoom icon to restore (note: Zoom will be focussed around the cursor position)
Left click on Download icon and Open with your preferred browser then print screen image from there (useful for trying ideas for text and graphics etc. but unlikely to be actual size), or Save File to create a full-size Scalable Vector Graphics (svg) file which can be loaded into LibreOffice Draw and printed, or graphics software such as Inkscape for eventual output at actual size to a Plotter/Cutter for example. See Packaging Designer User Guide for more detail.

Note:

In the table below, enter the main dimensions of your design as follows:
- The height of the Gnomon (GnomonHeight)
- The width of 'Dial Plate' required (PlateWidth)
- The radius of curvature if a curved plate design is chosen (CurvedRadius)
The table provides the distances of each Hour Line away from the Noon position and can be marked out directly on to your 'Dial Plate' material - the measurements are repeated on the drawing.
The CAD drawing includes Templates for both flat 'Dial Plate' and curved 'Dial Plate' options which can be used to transfer the measurements on to the 'Dial Plate' (note that using a curved plate can enable a greater range of hours to be marked . . . and if the CurveRadius is made to equal the GnomonHeight, the semi-circular and equi-spaced dial of an Armillary Sundial results!).