August 31, 1999
Hello John, MSC Industrial Supply Co. (1-800-645-7270) puts out a 4459 page catalog of tools and materials which includes brass rods (up to 6" dia.) and brass balls (up to 1.5" dia.) I stumbled onto their website (www.mscind.com) a couple of months ago and requested a catalog, which arrived within a few days via UPS. No charge! I've bought several items from them since and have received VERY prompt service - usually my order arrives within 2 days. Since they were willing to send out a 10 lb catalog to me, surely they would be happy to hear from you. Get a copy - it's great fun to browse through! Best, Mac Oglesby *** *** *** *** >Hello dialists: > >I would like to use a solid brass rod for the vertical gnomon of my new >horiz. sundial. Because this dial is quite large, 60" X 40", the gnomon >will be 12" tall. It needs to be sturdy enough so that it cannot be bent by >inquiring little hands, at least 1/4" thick, I should think. (Is there even >such a thing as a child-proof sundial?). For safety reasons and ease of >shadow readings, I'll also use a brass sphere, 3/8" to 1/2" wide, either >screwed or welded on top the brass rod. ( If I used a pointed sharp >gnomon/style, I can just see the headlines: "Child Impaled to death on >sundial!"). > >Anyway, my current brass supplier only has rods up to 3/16" thick, and I >can't find small brass spheres anywhere. Does anybody know the name or tel. ># of a brass supplier anywhere? I'm sure other dialists on the list could >use this information also. > >Thanks again, > >John Carmichael >http://www.azstarnet.com/~pappas
