Topographic Map

My dad and grandpa own a hunting cabin and about 120 acres of land surrounding it in Northern Wisconsin. My dad mentioned to me once that it would be cool if we had a topographical map of that area. It is super hilly to drive to but it also dips really low once you actually get to the cabin because there are some lakes, a stream, and marshes nearby. For his Christmas gift, I decided to make him such a map out of wood. I knew that this would be quite the undertaking and started working on the design file in July.

I found this topographic map (right) on a government website. It had information about the elevation lines as well as some of the labels. I used this as a reference when creating the design file.

I origianlly tried to outline the map with the Image Trace function but it did not work with the image I had :/ So I began by outlining the contours of the map in Adobe Illustrator using the pen tool.

I made it so that each layer was a different elevation height in order to keep myself organized.

This is how I organized the pieces to cut them out most efficiently. It was important to me that I mamimize my material and minimize waste.

After I cut all of the pieces out, I first sorted them by layer height. This made it easier to make sure I was putting pieces in the right spot.

Starting on the bottom layer, I began gluing all the pieces together- waiting a few minutes to dry in between layers.

Here are some examples of what the design for the individual pieces looked like in Adobe Illustrator.

Here are those example pieces cut out. I designed it so that pieces would have an engraving of the shape of the piece that goes on top of them. This way, I wouldn't have to guess about the placement of pieces.

I also put the elevation height on every single piece. This made it easier to identify pieces and know where to stack them.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse