Laser cut lake maps with real depth

1. RoadsWalnut, 3 mmMain roads around the lake, cut as pieces
2. LandBirch, 3 mmShoreline cut out, local roads and the lake name engraved
3. ShallowBlue acrylic or stained plyShallowest depth band, waterways engraved
4. Mid / DeepBlue acrylic or stained plyEach band cut to a deeper survey contour
5. DeepestBlue acrylic or darkest stainBase plate, shows only in the deepest holes

A depth survey is a set of contour lines: every point along one line is the same depth. MappSmith turns each chosen depth into a band. The deepest band is the base. Each band above it has a bigger hole, cut along a shallower contour. Stack them and the lake steps down toward its deepest spot. For the full walkthrough, read lake depth maps explained.

• Surveyed uses real soundings from public lake surveys. Depths are in feet because that's how the surveys publish them.
• Simulated shapes the bed from the shoreline. Pick a shape (gentle bowl, steep sides, drop-off, deep hole, sandbars and more) and type the real deepest point if you know it.
• If fewer than 60% of a survey's contours close into shapes, they can't be cut cleanly, so MappSmith switches to Simulated and says so.

One Glowforge maker built a Lake Murray bathymetric map with maple top layers over cheap plywood below to suggest depth. You don't need every layer to be good wood. Only the faces people see.

The simplest blue is acrylic. Each band in the Lake depths style defaults to blue acrylic. If you want wood, stain each band darker as it gets deeper. One builder diluted water-based blue stain for each depth, for example 1 part stain to 2 parts water, darkest at the deepest layer. Test on scrap first: you can add color but you can't take it away.

Want shiny water? Blue pigment in two-part epoxy poured into laser-etched waterways is a proven trick, and you can backlight it.

1. 01Leave Glue guides onEach sheet gets a light scored line showing where the next one sits.
2. 02Cut every sheetSheets are numbered from the bottom: 1 is the base.
3. 03Dry-fit, then glueBase, then water sheets deepest to shallowest, then your map layers on top. Thin, even glue, weighted while it dries.

• Frame the whole shoreline. The outline is what the owner knows. Leave a margin of land so the shape floats in the frame.
• Keep the roads around the lake. Main roads cut on top tell people where the cabin road runs. Local streets engraved on the land layer add texture without clutter.
• Mark the cabin. Drop a Heart, Star or Compass rose pin on the dock, then put the family name and the year on the band.
• Cut to the lake itself. Search the lake, then press "Place" in Size & shape to use the lake's own outline as the edge of the piece, where one is published.
• Check the survey before you quote. Look for the "No data here" badge on the Lake depth piece. If it shows, sell it as a modelled lake bed or as a shoreline map, not as a survey chart.

Shoreline and roads come from OpenStreetMap, so credit "© OpenStreetMap contributors" on the listing and packaging. See map attribution.

Lake owners identify hard with their lake, the shape reads instantly, and every lake is its own search. Searches for "lake map" and "lake depth map" peak in July and bottom out in November and December. List lake pieces in late spring.

Price reference: a Lake Vermilion 3D map lists from $179.95 in sizes 11x14 to 24x30, and its price rises with size and with the number of hand-stained water layers. A 13x13 lake depth board from Michigan State Industries is $60. That gap is the difference between an engraved chart and a stacked, stained 3D lake.