Dear Anton
The amount of finishing of the parts for the Schmoyer sundial depends
entirely on the desired result. One could simply sand off any rough edges
leaving the rough surface of the parts as-cast. This would leave only the
tasks of carefully drilling the required holes and placing the time marks
on the equatorial crescent before assembling. If you desire a smooth, shiny
finish, you will have to put in many hours of filing and sanding.
Mr. Schmoyer's instructions are very complete and the preparation of the
sundial can be accomplished with simple tools but great care must be taken
in setting up each step. The drilling of holes in the equatorial and latitude
crescents is the most delicate step and is where I messed-up with my own kit
long ago. I was drilling the last hole in the flange of one lattitude
crescent
but I did not have a very steady setup for aligning the drill. I impatiently
proceeded with the drilling anyway and wound up with a misaligned hole.
Fortunately, I was still able to assemble the sundial just fine even though
it was an unhappily tight fit. One could, of course, take the parts to a
machine shop to have the drilling done by a professional, if necessary.
Laurel has told me that she will make spare parts available separately
so a mistake does not have to be a disaster.
As a practical guideline, the time marks should be placed five minutes apart
making it possible to read the sundial to an precision of a couple of minutes.
With great care, I imagine that fine lines could be etched every minute but
that would be awfully fussy.
I am not able to provide a figure for the cost of shipping outside the US.
Order inquiries should go to:
Laurel Browning.
17100 White Dove Lane SE
Oldtown, MD 21555
phone: (301) 478-5646
At 01:02 PM 10/07/99 +0200, you wrote:
>Dave,
>
>I would love to have one, but there are a few questions to which I would
>appreciate answers, please.
>
>How much finishing needs to be done, as I am afraid that I might not have
>the neccesary skill and care? If the instructions are as such would an
>Engineering workshop be able to do the finishing, or would that be an
>overkill?
>
>Assembling the finished components and setting it up though, I will be able
>to do myself.
>
>To what degree of accuracy can time be read, without any further corrections
>to the actual reading after proper set-up? What are the increments on the
>time scale?
>
>Also, any idea on the shipping costs to Pretoria, South Africa?, and would
>she be able to take payment by Mastercard ?
>
>Thank you and regards
>
>D. Anton Reynecke
