Looking at examples of existing sundial formats, I found myself drawn to the armillary sundial for its aesthetic, the way it maps so neatly conceptually as an equatorial model of the earth, and its potential adjustability to different locations within one instrument by changing the angle of the rings relative to the ground.
These videos were helpful in my understanding:
I decided to use this as a basis and construct my own adjustable armillary sundial.
I used cardboard as a readily available prototyping material. I planned out what parts I would need (two concentric rings, an inclination pivot, supports), mocked them out in Illustrator, then cut them out with the laser cutter. I also added marks for the time and latitude, and for places that I’d need to line up in assembly.
I found a chopstick to use in the middle as the gnomon.
Since the pivot would be going through the weak part of the cardboard for the rings, I couldn’t just drill or poke a hole for it, so instead I glued two layers of cardboard together for each ring and squeezed a nail in them to work as the pivot.
I glued the rings together at 90 degrees, lined everything up and put it together