The life and death of the Bulbdial Clock

The life and death of the Bulbdial Clock

Time Stamp: March 8, 2024 10:22 AM
Source Node: 2508006

David Friedman, realizing that sundials suck, came up with a solution he called “The Bulbdial Clock”:

The Bulbdial Clock has no hands — just one pole in the center of the clock, and three light sources of varying heights which revolve around the pole casting shadows. In the model illustrated above, the light sources are each attached to a ring which rotates around the pole. The innermost ring rotates once per minute, casting a “second hand” shadow. The middle ring rotates once per hour, and casts the “minute hand” shadow. And the outer ring rotates once every 12 hours, casting the “little hand” shadow.

The Bulbdial Clock can be used flat like a traditional sundial, or mounted vertically on a wall. A variation on the design intended for large-scale installation (such as in a museum) involves a pole sticking up in the middle of a room, while the light sources are mounted on the ceiling, shining down on the pole as they rotate around it.

Evil Mad Scientist made a kit to build such a clock.

The Bulbial Clock went on sale in 2009. And every quarter since then, Windell and Lenore have sent me a royalty check. They got smaller over the years since the kit debuted, but they were always appreciated.

But a few weeks ago they announced that Evil Mad Scientist was acquired by Bantam Tools, a company run by Makerbot founder and 3D printing democratizer Bre Pettis. Together, they are focusing on new products like the NextDraw pen plotter, and moving away from built-it-yourself kits like the Bulbdial Clock.

You can read more in the blog post here.

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