Working on some techniques for forging spoons in preparation for trying (once again) to do some nunome zogan (Japanese overlay) on the handle.  The spoon is just an excuse for a vehicle: mild steel handle, copper bowl, brass rivets, and silver overlay. The bowl and and the handle are done and I'll start the nunome in the next few days.  

Wanted to get this down on paper before the ideas floated away.  This dial is often referred to as a Noon Mark dial.  During those in-between times when people relied strictly on a sundial and then relied on a watch, there was a time that watches just sucked.  They were either slow or fast.  In addition, time wasn't standardized across the country as travelers moved from cross country by train.  To help folks deal with these issues, Noon Mark dials were setup in town squares and provided accurate time of noon. People would stop and correct their watches based on the indication of Noon given as the shadow passed the 'noon mark' on the dial.  In addition, homes at that time often had 'marks' on window sills or walls that indicated Noon.  

This particular design is about 183 cm tall and 40 cm wide (scale: 1mm = 10 mm).  There will be (smaller) dashes to mark the first of each month and an analemma to mark the local civil time. The analemma provides a correction for the yearly 'wobble' of the earth and is  is 'tilted' to provide correction for local longitude. The Zodiac is given to provide some reference to the month.

Covid was a very personal, difficult thing to our family this year. 

Lots of experimenting going on so the consistency is not there, but each one tested positive on good cider

I've always wanted to build a jig for forging bottle openers and with the Creede Hockey Tournament coming up in January, thought I'd give it a try. There's a few old ones in this pile, but most are from various jig configurations.  These still need to go in the tumbler and get a wax finish. However, getting closer ... 

This is the start of what will likely be the last of my gnomonic activity for 2020. Not really sure what this is going to look like, but going crazy not being in the forge. The blank is left over after the realizing that the folks who cut the numbers, cut them in reverse order ... so I turned the dial inside out (or upside down) and started fresh with a new design - TBD. 

A quick froe for a neighbor ... 

2020/11/6: Taking me a long time to recover from my injury.  Tore my bicep off, tore 3 of 4 rotator cuff tendons, tore labrum, etc.  Doing small things as the strength slowly returns.  Forged 6 wall hooks for hanging fishing gear and had to rest arm between each one.