UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Richard D. Swensen Sundial

Construction of the Richard D. Swensen Sundial

The sundial was constructed by Gene Olson - Mettle Works of Elk River, Minn. (email: gene@mettleworks.com) The analemmas are made from 1.25" wide by 0.75" thick aluminum bar. The daylines are 1.25" by 0.5" thick aluminum. For more details including the construction, visit Olson's site.

 

Cherry Picker
Showing the drilling of the wall to support the annalemmas.

 

 

 Sundial Construction
The original x-y coordinates supplied by Professor John Shepherd were converted to distances on two intersecting rules. One is pivoted from the base of the gnomon (the shadow caster not yet installed in these photos) and the other is pivoted from a point on a horizontal scale mounted on the top of the wall. The supports were anchored in holes drilled at the intersections. This scheme allowed the holes to be located to 1/16 of an inch.