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Why the Compass?
Why the Compass?
What led to the wild variety of societies in our world, and why do some fail while others succeed? This was the question I sought to answer when I began reading Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. I took very comprehensive notes on every chapter, and you may read them if you wish at this link. However, after reading such a long and detailed book, what was the concise answer to my original question?
I found that the differences in relative societal success among modern countries can be traced to geographical variations that caused inconsistencies in resource availability, ease of spreading technology, and how different areas are governed.
This thesis obviously cannot account for every country or person's experience. However, I believe that the geographical location of our ancestors from the last ice age, approximately 13,000 years ago, decided the general trend of countries today. With this thesis in mind, how could we make it even simpler and represent it through "art"? Well, what better symbol than the oldest tool for direction: The Compass.
How?
How?
Step 1: Computer Aided Design (CAD)
Step 1: Computer Aided Design (CAD)
Before I even picked up a piece of wood, I wanted to have a solid plan and process in mind. To begin, I researched how others have already made compass roses. I drew much of my inspiration from this YouTube video, but I needed to make some changes.
As you can see, I originally planned to contrast the colors by using maple and walnut woods together. However, I ended up using pine because I already had enough at home and it worked well as a first prototype.
Next, I used precise measurements for each pointy piece so that I could cut them to shape on my band saw. By using the table tilt feature on my band saw, I was able to achieve accurate cuts that contributed to the 3D effect of the large cardinal points.
The band saw used to cut the geometry
Step 2: Cut and Sand
Step 2: Cut and Sand
This step is pretty straight forward. After using my ruler to mark all my pieces of wood for cutting, I simply followed my markings with my band saw. The step that took the longest was sanding because band saws always leave wavy ridges on the cut pieces.
Step 3: Glued and Ready to Present!
Step 3: Glued and Ready to Present!
Final Notes
Final Notes
The compass rose was sanded to 220 grit sandpaper, sprayed with lacquer varnish, and hung up on my wall with a flush mount screw hole that I printed out on my 3D printer.
It only seemed appropriate to place it next to my USS Iowa, which you can see more about here. After all, what's a ship without a compass to guide it?
Now that I know I can make this compass out of pine wood, maybe I will create a fancier one out of maple and walnut.
Fun Facts
Fun Facts
The compass was one of the Four Great Inventions from Ancient China
In the past, Eurasia modernized more rapidly than the Americas or Africa because Eurasia had a East-West orientation as opposed to a North-South orientation. More about this here
The compass rose is the diagram within a compass
During WWII, compasses were smuggled to prisoners of war in Germany to help them escape
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