Write to the Workshop
Every enquiry answered within two working days · Hobart, Tasmania
One address for every kind of dial, from a slate wall dial at $680 to a ground dial children stand in as the gnomon. Tell us where it will stand and we can quote straight away.
There is no form here and no order button. A dial is calculated for one latitude, one longitude and one wall, so each one starts as a letter and a setting-out drawing, never a basket. There is no minimum order, and nothing in the yard is made for stock.
What to send
Six Things That Let the First Reply Carry a Price
The more of this a first letter holds, the sooner a figure comes back. If something is missing we will ask. Nothing is cast or cut until you have approved the setting-out drawing.
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Your suburb or coordinates
A suburb is enough to work out the latitude the gnomon leans at and the longitude that sets the clock offset. Coordinates to two decimal places are better still. A dial for Kingston leans a few minutes of arc more steeply than one for New Norfolk.
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Which way the wall or garden faces
For a wall, the bearing straight out from its face. For a garden, where the open sky lies and what stands between the dial and the sun in June, when the sun is lowest and eaves and trees throw their longest shade.
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A photo with a compass bearing, if you are beyond 60 km
Too far for a survey, the photo stands in for one. Stand with your back to the wall, hold a compass flat and note the bearing you face. Send the magnetic reading as it is. We make the correction to true north, about 15 degrees in Hobart.
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Preferred size and material
Slate from 300 mm square, horizontal bronze at 250 mm or 400 mm, an armillary sphere at 600 mm. If you are torn between slate and bronze, say so, and we will tell you which suits the spot and the budget.
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Any motto you have in mind
The first 30 letters are included, then $4 a letter. Short mottoes cut deeper and read better after twenty Tasmanian winters, so it is worth trying the eight-word version first.
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A date, if the dial marks one
A birth, a marriage or a life remembered. Bronze is poured once a month, on the first Thursday, and takes 10-14 weeks from approved drawing. Slate takes 5-6 weeks. A date tells us which pour to aim for.
After You Write
The reply comes within two working days with a price, or the one question that stands between us and a price. Within 60 km of Hobart it offers a survey date. The setting-out drawing follows, and a 40 percent deposit is due when you approve it. The balance falls due before dispatch or installation, never sooner.
Read every dial and its price before you write if you like, or how a dial is set out to see what the drawing is working through.
Hours and travel
Four Days at the Bench, One Regional Trip a Month
The yard keeps short weeks so the pour and the engraving get whole days. Letters that arrive on a Sunday or Monday wait for Tuesday morning.
Workshop hours
- Tuesday to Friday 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
- Saturday 10:00 am - 1:00 pm By arrangement. Write ahead with the morning you would like, and the way to the yard comes with the reply.
- Sunday and Monday Closed The crucible is cold and the bench is swept.
Every enquiry answered within two working days
Surveys and the long way round
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Site survey within 60 km of Hobart
$120
Credited in full against an order. True north, the wall's declination and the June shade, measured on the spot.
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Installation within 60 km
Included
On orders over $1,400. We set it, level it and check the noon shadow before we leave.
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Elsewhere in Tasmania
$1.10 a km
Beyond the first 60 km, on the one regional trip each month. Ask which month heads your way.
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Mainland Australia and New Zealand
Freight quoted
Dials go crated, with setting instructions and a printed alignment card. Freight is quoted at the drawing stage.
Where we are
Hobart, Tasmania
A working yard on the Derwent, under kunanyi, with a crucible in one corner and a slate saw in the other. We give the town and the region and leave it there. Visits are by arrangement, on the hours above.
Every Hobart gnomon leans at the same 42°53′, and every Hobart dial runs about 10 minutes 41 seconds behind the clock. Your own figures will differ. That difference is the whole reason to write.
If you are not sure which way your wall faces, send the photo anyway, taken near midday if you can. The shadows in it tell me more than you would think.Hester