The first step in drafting the astrolabe climate plate is to lay out the Tropics and the Equator, along with the meridian. As these markings will be the same for all the plates, it makes sense to draw each line on all the plates before moving on to the next line. This way, I can […]
The unequal hours arcs have now been added to the back of the astrolabe. With the exception of what little decoration I’m planning, this completes work on the back of the project. With the front and the back now finished, the next step is designing a set of climate plates. Doing five of those will […]
As I mentioned a while back, there is a developer out there using the output of the Astrolabe Generator to create an astrolabe app for the iPad. Well, version 1 is complete and available for free on the App Store. The website is: http://taucetisystems.com/. I have not had a chance to look at it yet, […]
The next step, and the last scale to be added to the back of my astrolabe, is the unequal hour scale. In the middle ages, there where several timekeeping systems in use, as opposed to the single one we use now. This next scale was designed to convert between two of these systems: The Equal […]
The Missing Manual has gone missing! As some of you might have noticed, the Joomla site for Astrolabe: The Missing Manual is gone. Like the original wiki it replaced, it was not meeting my needs, so I nuked it. Do not despair! The manual still exists, and is still being added to regularly (more regularly […]
I thought I posted this two weeks ago… Work and life have gotten busier than I realized it seems. Anyway, here is the completed shadow square section. Next up will be the unequal hours scale and then the back will be done.
Getting the zodiac and calendar rings done was probably the worse, most finicky part of this project; the rest of the tasks remaining might require careful measurement, and attention to detail, but orders of magnitude less work than the last section. The next task is to finish off the rear of the astrolabe. Two scales […]
In working with a compass and a straight-edge I’m finding that there are techniques that can be used to improve the accuracy of the drawing. When drawing arcs to bisect lines or angles it is best to set the compass radius so that the construction arcs cross as close to 90 degrees as possible. The […]
Well… That was a bit more intense than I expected. I was expecting that drawing the calendar ring on the back of my astrolabe would be rather involved, but actually doing it took more patience than I expected. This was definitely the hardest part so far. Drawing the offset ring was straight-forward. As described previously computing the […]
While I’m working on this project, I’m also researching the tools and techniques used by the instrument makers who made these astrolabes. The two period manuals I am working from assume a certain shared level of knowledge, and do not mention tools or engraving techniques, except in passing. I am finding the art of the […]