THORINSTRUMENTS 4" Sundial Compass - Solid Brass, Adjustable Legs, Rugged Outdoor Design

This portable sundial is beautifully made and amazing value for money (£12.99|) given that it appears to be made of solid brass. It makes a great mantelshelf decoration – however it is not a practical instrument to use. The two main defects in this respect are that the compass is undamped (it needs a liquid or a thick aluminium ring to damp it) and the shadow of the pointer (gnomon) is invisible on the shiny brass ring scale– it needs to be painted over which would spoil it.There are no instructions. To release the compass needle there is a catch on the side and another catch can be used to stop the needle oscillating if used carefully. The instrument should be rotated until the end of the compass needle with the red dot points to north on the scale. Ideally allowance should be made for magnetic variation but this is small in much of the UK. The gnomon and the latitude scale are hinged and should be set upright. The device needs to be set by tilting the time scale and gnomon to your latitude as the gnomon must be parallel to the earth’s axis – in particular it will be horizontal at the equator. I do not think it can be used in the southern hemisphere. The highest latitude this device can be used at is 60 degrees north which covers the UK. The time marks on the scale should have been calibrated to take account of the angle between the gnomon and the scale.I would give it two stars as a working instrument because of the above-mentioned shortcomings but five stars because of its decorative value for money.N.B. Sundials give local time. They do not allow for differences between local time and standard time in the country concerned. (GMT or BST in the UK) There are three possible differences. The largest difference in summer is the one hour which needs to be added in summer to local time. In addition the length of a local day varies throughout the year because the earth’s orbit is elliptical rather than circular. Standard time assumes a fixed average day length. The difference is up to a maximum of plus or minus 15 minutes and can be found by looking up the Equation of Time. Finally there is a correction for the difference between the local longitude and the longitude for which standard time is given – zero degrees in the UK. The difference is 4 minutes per degree of longitude and so can amount to 25 minutes in Britain.

I did not realise how good the sun dial was,until it needed cleaningonly then did the penny drop.not only can 2 parts pivot, so you can polish it uBut its so easy to take completely apart and clean.Its Accuracy, I can't really give any feed-backbut it looks great.Ta India.Nautical.Handcraft.vcr

Some reviews - and I don't doubt them - tell of damaged and or faulty products - either during manufacture or at the postage stage - I use these products in photoshoots and I understand that they are more of a decorative piece than having a practical use - just so long as it looks the part. That said, the product arrived the next day - well packaged - in one piece - looking too new, shiny and in perfect working order - Yes it even points North. Worth the money - looks the part, but not as distressed as I would have liked.

This is well made and well worth buying. It looks really classy. I had to ask for instructions to set it up and they arrived really quickly so good service as well. Here are the instructions if you decide to buy one!First put your sundial on a flat surface & release the magnetic needle when it stop move the compass dial north under the redpoint, you compass is in correct direction. Now open the arc which is fitted on the sundial , the sun shade falls on the sundial you can see the approx time by this. It is same copy of sundial which was invented in 1890s so if you compare the time to your watch it will be not same there will be little difference because it is a antique item

Stunning product. Ordered this for my wife and she’s delighted! Beautiful workmanship and it actually works. Looks exactly as the photos sell it. We had ordered two previously from other sellers, but both had to be sent back (rare for me!) as neither were as advertised. This one is the best by far and exactly as described!! It doesn’t come with a box, but it doesn’t matter as it’s far too beautiful to store in a box anyway. It came very well wrapped and that’s what counts. Excellent product and highly recommended. Happy, happy wife!!

Nice to look at, but did not come with any alignment instructions to actually set it up.

none

A excellent product, well in line with true antique