Sundials Made Out of Weird Things

Strange Sundial Structures

• Unusual sundials around the world are tourist attractions, visited by millions each year.

  In the U.S., there's an extraordinary sundial; its primary function is as a huge cantilever bridge spanning the waters of the Sacramento River at Turtle Bay in Redding, California. This structure, known as the "Sundial Bridge," was completed in 2004 at a cost of 23 million dollars. Taiwan is home to another of the world's largest sundials. The Taipei 101 building casts a shadow over a round park at its base to indicate the hour of the day. This pagoda style of skyscraper that's also a sundial was completed in 2004 and is located in the Hsin-Yi District of Taipei.

Odd Homemade Sundials

• Homemade sundials crafted from paper are unusual and interesting projects for children and sundial enthusiasts of any age. To build a sundial as simple or as complex as you wish, use online instructions, free downloads of templates or programs for designing sundials. Before downloading, check to see if your choice is compatible with your geographical location. Materials used include origami paper, stock card, or for larger models, tear-proof flexible plastic used for printing banners. Remember, the most important part of your sundial, the gnomon, or triangular pointer piece on top of the sundial, must be cut carefully from your chosen material for accurate time-keeping. Take your time making model sundials from kits, especially advanced models like digital sundials, and read any instructions thoroughly before beginning.

Remarkable Recycled Sundials

• Recycled sundials make use of unwanted items, such as aluminum cans, Styrofoam coffee cups and old CDs, to create works of art that also tell the time. These garden ornaments are often created individually for customers, because the geographic locations differ for each one. Custom-made models use computer programs to calculate the measurements needed to get accurate readings in each case. These numbers are digitally transferred to a router that cuts out the pattern as a template for the casting. Aluminum cans are washed, then melted down and poured over this mold. Recycled sundials in a variety of other materials are also available from online vendors.

Fantastic Futuristic Sundials

• Digital sundials first appeared in public places in 1998 at Sundial Park in the Belgian city of Genk. Sundial Park, or Molenvijverpark, contains not only the first digital sundial, but also 11 other unique sundials. In 2002, the first public U.S. digital sundial was installed in front of the historic Corbin-Norton house in Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The digital time displays of these unusual sundials resemble a common electrically-powered digital clock. Instead of running on electricity, they use high-tech systems of screens to filter sunlight and translate those rays into numbers.