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I painted the bottom of a pie pan, and also a Davis horizon, black with
flat black paint.  Then you don't have to worry about coloring the oil.
  Molasses (treacle in Great Britain) also solves most problems.  My
wife has complained about me spilling oil on the deck; molasses might
avoid that technical difficulty :)

On Feb 4, 2004, at 4:48 PM, Andrew Corl wrote:

> I am entertaining the notion of building an artificial horizon for
> myself.  I have looked at several images of them on the web.
> Basically from what I can see they consist of a pan of either metal or
> wood for holding a liquid.  The older ones I have seen used mercury,
> however, today I assume they use water or some type of clear oil.  The
> sides are wooden or metal, and the front and back have glass plates
> that prevent the wind from disturbing the surface of the liquid.  Is
> this correct?  One I looked at had the dimension of 150
> mmx100mmx60mm.  For those who use artificial horizons regularly what
> kind of liquid do you use.  Mercury in large quantities is hard to
> handle and obtain,  I was thinking about use mineral oil.  This is a
> clear oil.  Would it be necessary to paint the bottom of the pan a
> silver color or do you rely on the reflecting properties of the
> liquid.
>
>
>
> Thanks for everyone?s help.
>
>
>
> Andrew

   

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