Large lake map plaque

[DickB]

I make depth contour lake maps of local lakes. I've been making them in various sizes of 9", 11", and 14" wide. I got a request to make one about 4' x 2', which meant it would need to be carved in at least two pieces. This was the first time I had done this, although many others have made large signs this way. I used layout tips by Michael T and left about a quarter of an inch overlap on the joined edge, which I trimmed to exact fit with my table saw. I was very pleased with the result.

46052

The wood is New Zealand pine, which Al recently commented on in another thread. It carves well, has no knots, and is very straight with no warping. If you're careful it can be difficult to see the glue line when edge gluing.

When I carved the top half, I didn't bother to delete the centerline lettering. I was surprised when the machine prompted for the V bit, but I obliged, and the machine air carved in one dimension off to the side of the board! Next time I will delete the lettering. Likewise, the oval cutout air carved off to the side of the board in a straight line.

I did not actually use a complete cut through for the cutout. My thinking was that it is much easier to clamp straight boards than oval ones. I did not trust tabs to be sufficient. So I cut only 1/2" through, glued and clamped, then cut the oval completely through but slightly oversize using a handheld scroll saw. The edge was trimmed with a conventional router trim bit to complete the cut.

[Kenm810]

Your lakes Plaque Project Looks Terrific!!
Nice Contrast in your choice of woods and finish

[liquidguitars]

nice job on the map!

[jaroot]

That turned out really nice. I guess I'll have to try a "large" sign one of these days.

[dougmsbbs]

And a new idea, at that! I live in a region with a lot of lakes and a large summer population of 'lakers''. Sometimes I wonder how the county is big enough to hold all the bass boats that are here all summer long. I'd bet a lot of they would love something like this.
Will have to look into this.... :)

[DickB]

I have seen laser-etched 2D maps and laser cutout maps made of stacked layers of thin stock, a layer for each 10' or so. But as far as I know I'm the only one in the area carving them. I also blend the depth contours so that they look more natural rather than like a stair step. I just got another custom order for a 4' x 3' map, so that means three boards.

[b.sumner47]

That is really some nice work, Capt Barry

[LittleRedWoodshop]

That is a great sign ... now I want to go fishing.

[mtylerfl]

Wow! What a great-looking plaque! That sure does look like a single piece of wood. No one would ever know that it was a glue-up just by looking at it. Very, very nice work. No wonder you're getting more orders! Class act, all the way.

[DickB]

Thanks all.


That is a great sign ... now I want to go fishing.
Yup, that's my problem - do I make more lake maps, or go boating?

[Pratyeka]

Very nice work!
How about adding the land features, like trees, roads, houses, etc?

[DickB]

Could be done, but I like to keep focus on the lakes. Also, I can't paint detail. My finishing process is to slop poly stain in the lakes and lettering, "coloring" outside the lines. When it dries, I sand the flat surface to clean things up, then add a couple coats of clear everywhere. That technique would not work with raised trees and houses.

I was asked in a PM if I would share where I get the lake maps, so I am posting the answer here for all. The Minnesota DNR hosts a very nice Lake Finder web site (when our state government is not shut down!): http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/LakeFind/index.html You can get tif and pdf versions of most Minnesota lakes. They also provide access to a digital database, which I use. I import the depth contours into a drawing program and "color" the areas between contour lines shades of gray. Then I use a blur or unfocus tool to eliminate the stair-step edges. Details of the process are probably specific to the Minnesota database, but if anyone wants to know more, ask.

[DickB]

This is basically the same thing, but in this rectangular format I have enough space to include all of the individual lake names. The first few examples of this project that I made have sold almost as fast as I have been able to make them. This one is for me. I have genereally been able to find very flat boards for these projects, but this particular board had a bit of cup to it. I decided to make a frame for it, to straighten the board and keep it flat. My son commented that the frame actually enhances the project significantly over just a plain board. Of course, when you have a CarveWright, you're tempted to embellish even the simplest project. I looked for ways to add some accents to the frame. Where this project was destined to be displayed in my home, the side of the frame is prominent as you pass through a hallway, so it was a natural canvass on which to work.

47517 47516

A customer asked if I could add a compass to the map. I made my version using mostly standard Wingdings characters with Centerline Text and vectors. Part of the compass and the elements on the frame were done with the help of Create and Carve's excellent Dingbats tutorial in Tips and Tricks May 09:
http://www.carvewright.com/downloads/tips/CarveWrightTips&Tricks_May09.pdf

47515
(http://www.carvewright.com/downloads/tips/CarveWrightTips&Tricks_May09.pdf)
I found a couple of fine free programs to implement this method. First, I used Inkscape (http://inkscape.org/) to import some simple clip art silhouettes and convert them to eps format. Next, I used the demo version of Type Tool 3 (http://www.fontlab.com/fontlab-font-editors/typetool-8212-basic-font-editor.html) to import the eps and create a font. The demo version overlays its own logo onto random characters when you generate a font. If you simply copy your created glyphs to multiple characters, odds are you'll end up with at least one clean copy of your glyph in the generated font.

[dbfletcher]

Wow.. that is awesome! I love the embellishments you added to the frame sides. Great job!

[liquidguitars]

very cool like the details on the frame...

[b.sumner47]

DickB , That is totally awsume. Great work. Capt Barry

[CarverJerry]

That is a really great job Dick, sure do love the custom frame on your map too. Thanks for posting.

CJ

[Kenm810]

Great Project, Fine Looking Detail Work on the sides of the frame