The Astrolabe Project

The first step has to be making myself a protractor. I was going to create one as a proof of concept then switch to a commercial model, but I have changed my mind. If I can make a reasonably accurate tool, I can laminate it and use it; getting rid of the need to ‘cheat’.

I’m tempted to jump right into the climate plates next; but I think that they really need to be much further down the list. The construction of the climates is the most complex and confusing and I will have to lay a lot of groundwork before I am ready to start documenting that process.

My rough schedule is as follows:

• Explain the geometric construction techniques to be used. Number them to allow me to refer to them later.
• Draft the protractor
• Rough out the design for the astrolabe as a whole. I can then use this rough model to transfer measurements from for the various parts.
• The front of the mater:
  • time scale
  • interior scale
  • throne
• The back of the mater:
  • zodiac scale
  • calendar scale
  • unequal hour scale
  • shadow scales
  • throne
• The climate plates.
• The rete.
• The alidade and rule.