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Making your own sundials
This section of the website is a collection of resources to help you make your own sundials. These don't have to be complicated or expensive - you can make them from paper, card, plywood as well as more traditional and longer lasting materials. Before you start, you will need to know the Latitude and Longitude of the place you're making the dial for. You can use the Latitude and Longitude Finder to get those.
Create a dial entirely yourself.
To calculate the correct angles for your sundial, you could either work them out yourself, or use our online Sundial Angle Calculator to calculate your angles.
Easy way: use the Sundial Angle Calculator
Hard way: download a PDF of the equations section of the BSS Glossary, with equations for every aspect of dialling. This is for those who are very comfortable with maths and trigonometry, but would allow you to create any kind of sundial.
Armillary Equatorial Dial
from embroidery hoops
Make a beautiful sundial from a set of inexpensive embroidery hoops, large or small.
BSS Horizontal Sundial
If you would like to start by downloading a sheet you can print and assemble, we have the BSS Horizontal Sundial. This is an accurate and decorative dial intended to be printed and glued to 6mm MDF board. There are versions available for most of the UK down to latitude accuracy of 0.1 degrees.
Educational Universal Multi-Dial
There is also the Educational Universal Multi-Dial, to be printed and glued to cardboard to produce an instructive dial which shows the relationships between equatorial, horizontal, vertical and polar dials. Ideal for explaining the concepts in an educational setting.