Laser Cutt ing a

Top ograp h ica l Ma p

So I stumbled upon this guy's laser cut topographical map
(http://theshamblog.com/making-a-laser-cut-topo-map-the-
design-phase/)of Portland, Maine, really wanted one of SF
and googled how much these things cost to own...and
decided nope. I wanted to make one of SF to see how steep
the hills that I "biked" this summer were...except the end
product just made me terrified of the parts of SF that were
taller than the little nubbins that I half-biked/half-pushed my
bike up.

Portland guy does a good job detailing his steps, so I

Melania'd a lot of his first 3 steps to minimize going back and
forth. I diverged from his process significantly after #3/4, but
rec you read his method too. (I use more QGIS at the
beginning and less Illustrator, whereas he's the opposite. I've
got a little previous GIS experience, had never used it before
this.)

Ov er v ie w of the Proce ss
#Tru stTheProcess
You already win at life if you got that hashtag.

1. Obtain the needed software.

2. Find elevation and road data and download it. (I used
bike lanes).
3. Using the elevation data extract contour lines with QGIS
and create polygons.
4. Overlay bike lane data and use polygons to keep only
bike visible bike lanes for each layer.
5. Export the contours as .svg files, separate svg files per
contour level.
6. Test cut on tiny scale
7. Laser Cut and Glue
Things Needed

QGIS
Adobe Illustrator (Free this year–thanks UNC!)
$60k Laser Cutter
Plywood, Wood Glue
Elevation Data

Let's get crackin'

1. Get data (as with all data, not necessarily the easiest)
Needs to be a .dem file, which has an .asc extension.
We're looking for a digital elevation model (DEM), and a
shapefile (.shp) of bike lanes. *FYI Shapefiles are weird
and must have a .dbg and .shx file in addition to the .shp
file or it won't work. Basically, just download/copy the
 entire thing of files associated with the shp file, ie .prj,
.qpj. Don't ask me why lol.
Remember that the elevation data is a raster data type
and the contour layers/bike lanes are vector data.

2. Open the Data in QGIS

For screenshots on how to do this, go to Portland dude's
page, or hover over the buttons on the far left and click
the ‘Add Raster Layer’ button to add the dem file data
(it's the checkerboard one). I just used the default
coordinate reference system that popped up. It'll probly
be slow to zoom/pan.

2a. Get contour lines. From the top menu bar: Raster ->
Extraction -> Contour. In the window that pops up, select
a path for your output file and give it a name. This will
create a folder with that name and put your output
contour files into it. You need to click select and type the
file name in the window s.t. a path like this "Laser
Cutting/SF Topo Map/Newfilename" to the file shows
up.

Now set your interval between contour lines. The DEM

I’m using is in units of meters, so I put in ’15’ to give 15-
meter (roughly 45 ft) contour lines. Play around with
different numbers and see how much detail you want. I
also rec using the max elevation to how much work you
want to do and how big you want it to be. In my case SF
is about 280m, which gives me roughly 280/15 ~ 17-18
layers. Each piece of wood is ~ 1/4 in thick, so it was
going to be a little over 4 inches tall.

**In the Contour box, make sure to: check “Attribute

Name” and name the variable or you won't get any data
in the file. Click ok. This step takes QGIS a little time,
 longer the larger your dataset is–I bet there's a way to do
this on a portion of the map too.

3. Crop the raster (and contours)

This will also cut down on data size/speed up QGIS.

3a. With the original elevation data still open, create the
shape (Idk what the proper term here is) we're clipping
with. Select the Clipper tool from the top menu bar:
Raster ‣ Extraction ‣ Clipper. Select extent, click the pen
tool (circled) and draw a rectangle on the map of the
area you want.

(Topo_Map_Guide/3a.png)

Step 3a will create a tif file that looks something like

this:

(Topo_Map_Guide/3a2.png)
3bi. We're going to next make this into a polygon that we
can clip with. I believe the googling phrase is “clip
polygon by raster". Create the polygon (outputs a .shp
file) covering your raster extent. From the top menu bar:
Vector -> Research Tools -> Polygon from layer extent.
For the input layer: whatever you called the tif file
above. Make an output file, same as we've been doing.

(Topo_Map_Guide/3bi.png)

3bii. Obtain the clip between your vector layer and the
extent polygon. From the top menu bar: Vector ->
Geoprocessing tools -> Clip
For "input vector layer", select the contour lines
shapefile. For clip layer, select the polygon shpfile that
we just created in 3b.
*If you aren't able to get rid of the random rect we have
from clipping, I couldn't figure out how to do it other
than restarting QGIS. I didn't know what to google, so if
you know how to do it, let me know.
 (Topo_Map_Guide/3bii.png)

4. Separate the contour layer into individual layers

There's a tool in the Vector menu that can split a dataset
based on an attribute. On the top of the menu bar:
Vector -> Data Management Tools -> Split Vector Layer.
For "input vector layer", select the contour layer.
For "unique ID field", select "ELEV" or whatever you
named the elevation field. Browse a folder to put them
in–I rec a separate folder.

(Topo_Map_Guide/4.png)

At this point, you should remove unnecessary data

(mostly the original dem file and unclipped contours)–
right click on the layer --> remove. You should be left
with only lines inside the polygon we just clipped. You
can always reload it if needed.

5. Add Bike Lanes

 Add the bike lanes with just created separate contour
shapefiles ("add vector layer" on left panel, above where
we loaded the .dem data). Rename your layers if
necessary.

Btw, you can add all at once: sort by file type, click the
top .shp file, hold shift and select the last one, and click
open. I used the default CRS.

6. Prepare for Laser Cutting

To prepare for laser cutting, we're going to make the
contour lines red (red = cut), but we need to make sure
they're RGB 255 red.

6a. In the layer panel on the left side, right click on a

contour layer --> properties.

6b. In the properties panel, click the down arrow by

color (green circle) --> "choose color".

6c. In the select color panel, put in 255 for R and G and 0
for B (red circle) --> OK
Unforch, I didn't figure out a way to do this for all layers
at once. It's tedious. Stream some netflix.

(Topo_Map_Guide/6b.png)

7. Repeat for Bike

 Repeat 6 for the bike lanes layer, but make it RGB 0R, 0
G, 255 Blue (blue = etch). *You'll have to do this for every
cropped bike lane, ie repeat after step 8. More netflix to
numb away the pain.
Random QGIS tip: to hide/view all layers, click the eye
on the top ("manage layer visibility")

8. Clip Bike Lanes

This step is a little hard to explain. Goal is to clip all bike
lanes out of each layer where it will be covered by
another layer on top of it. (reduces time needed for laser
cutting). If you're not going to put roads/bike lanes on,
you can jump ahead, but having roads/lanes will make it
easier to make sure you've lined up your parts correctly.

We're going to do this by creating polygons out of each

layer except the bottom one and then use the polygon
for the layer that would sit on top of it to clip it and
remove all the bike lanes that are in the layer above.

Example layer elevation 0 meters:

8a. Make polygon out of contour elevation 15: Vector ->
Geometry Tools -> Lines to Polygons. Select contour
layer for input, create output file -> OK. Use the default
WGS84 CRS.
8b0. Adding this at the end of step 8 because we skip
this step for the first layer.
8b. Remove the Lines you don’t need: Vector ->
Geoprocessing tools -> Difference
 (Topo_Map_Guide/8a.png)

This is for a different layer, but you should get

something that looks like this. Make sure to change the
bike lanes to blue.

(Topo_Map_Guide/8b.png)

*Step 8b0. For all future layers/higher elevations, we'll

need to clip the bike lanes with the contour layer's
corresponding polygon to fit within each contour layer.
You must clip with the polygon or you'll get whatever
bike lane pieces that cross over the contour line (ie a
couple dots at best).
 (Topo_Map_Guide/8c.png)

You should get something that looks like this. Repeat

step 8b. Repeat for all layers as necessary.

(Topo_Map_Guide/8d.png)

Need to remove extra bike lanes (difference with

polygon of higher elevation)

To minimize chances for error, I recommend that you fit

(clip) all bike lanes within their respective contours first,
then remove all lines (difference) all lines that would get
covered by the stacked layer.

In general, clip with polygons when you want the vector

in shape of the polygon. Difference with polygons when
you want the vectors of only what you can see once you
layer polygon on top.

9. Export as SVG from QGIS

We're going to be saving each contour-bike layer as its
own SVG file.
9a. Pan and zoom such that the area fills your screen
and jot down the scale (green) for the future case you
need to go back and remake a layer. Click new print
composer. It'll open a new window.

(Topo_Map_Guide/9a.png)

9b. In the composition (red box), change the preset to

custom. Change to inches. Pick a size for your map–I did
32 x 18 inches. 9c. Click new map (blue circle). Draw a
rectangle the size of the canvass. Go back to the red
square and select the item properties tab (next to the
composition tab). Scroll to "Position and Size" and set
the X and Y to be 0 mm, and the width and height to be
whatever you set your canvas size to, but in mm (ah if
only we did the metric system). For me, I had 812.8 mm x
457.2 mm. Jot down the scale under the top panel,
"Main Properties". I used 19942.
(Topo_Map_Guide/9c.png)
Click the "export as SVG" button (green circle) and
ignore the warnings haha.

9d. Next layer: Switch back to the QGIS (command + ~

on a mac). Uncheck the layer you just saved as an SVG,
and select the elevation and bike lanes. Be careful to not
scroll or you'll have to reset your scale. Cmd-tilda back
to the same print composer canvas, click new map (blue
circle) and repeat 9c. If the scale on the 2nd layer
doesn't match the first layer, paste in the scale (19942
here), and click update preview. Export as SVG.

*Do all your layers at the same time or you'll have to

manually resize them, ie do it all over if you can't
remember the scale.*

For the layers with no bike lanes:

To make sure that I knew which piece to stack the next
random piece on and where within the layer, I exported
the contour layer for the elevation below the layer of
interest as well (you might need to delete some random
scraps). This will give you an extra thin trace around
 your layer to add that can function as a stencil. Probly
better ways out there, but this is the best I could think
of.

(Topo_Map_Guide/9stencil.jpg)

10. Illustrator
Select all and change stroke weight/thickness to 0.001
in. Clean up the file and delete random pieces that got
cropped in, you might want to delete random contours
that are contours in the middle of the main piece. Draw
a red rectangle (0.001 in thick) around the area so that
you'll be able to pop it all out easily. Make sure you
make the rectangle have no fill (as opposed to white)
because it will tell the laser cutter that it's the opposite
of black and attempt to engrave the entire rectangle.

To remove the lines outside of the rectangle, select all

and hit cmd+7. Sorry windows people, I don't know how
to do this with the toolbar, but it's clipping everything
outside the rectangle with a mask.

11. Laser Cutting

 Cut a couple layers on a tiny scale to make sure you
have the pieces on the same scale. If you know a layer
will have tiny pieces you want, I recommend getting a
piece of scrap and putting it underneath, refocusing the
laser cutter, but maintaining the same thickness of the
wood so that it will cut as usual, but the small pieces
will be caught by the wood below instead of falling
through the vent.

For future layers where the small pieces are scattered

with large blocks of blank, you should select and move it
to reduce the blank space. Please don't waste wood...or
anything in general.

Wood glue changes colors after it dries and will squirt

out so be careful when you try and get the weird edges.
Make sure to clamp/apply pressure evenly to minimize
the gaps between the wood. I regret not doing a better
job gluing.

12. Glue
Wood glue changes colors after it dries and will squirt
out so be careful when you try and get the weird edges.
Make sure to clamp/apply pressure evenly to minimize
the gaps between the wood. I regret not doing a better
job gluing.

13. Cover
This part is tricky. Measure the dimensions and laser cut
the appropriate sizes in acrylic. You should laser cut it
because you need the sides to be smooth. I didn't do the
actual gluing (technically closer to solvent welding) part
and I don't understand how this works...it's magical and
you need a fume hood in ideal scenario because this
 stuff reeks and is some sort of weird acid (potentially
hazardous? no idea). Check out the black magic here
(https://youtu.be/hT6Ow_cBTps?t=3m30s).

14. Golden Gate Bridge!

DNE yet. Found a stl file for it on Thingiverse and
somebody will be attempting to use some high tech 3d
resin printer to make one for me. Keeping my fingers
crossed here that it works.

Still a work in progress, but the current state:

(Topo_Map_Guide/finalprod.jpg)

HUGE thanks to everybody, particularly, Drew, Charlie, DJ,

Glenn, and David at the UNC Makerspace
(http://beam.unc.edu/) for all their help!