NavList:

 David,

Sorry that I have no pix of my project - almost fourty years ago.

Your sextant looks very well made but the degree scale is on the flat face - a radial scale.  They are much harder to make and the vernier also much harder.

Now consider a liner scale , aka a tape measure. You do not have to make one, just buy at a store.  A linear scale can be wraped around the outside of the wood ( or plastic ).  If the radius is matched to the tape measure then the marks on the tape measure scale will be degrees or minuites.  Look at the knob drum on a modern sextant,  The scale marks are around the outside of the drum, not radial from the axis.  No need to etch the marks, just glue on the tape measure.

The vernier is easy to make - just draw a diagonal line on graph paper and mark 11 dots in a 10 unit space.  ( a reto-vernier ).  Draw a liner vernier on a flat strip of paper and put on the arm at a ninety degree angle so it is riding over the outside scale.

I agree, it will not look like a pretty modern sextant but it will work.

Having worked with my rotary table and milling machine to etch dials for different projects I know hard it is to etch or even draw radial scales.

John H.