BuffaloLabs sells laser cut topographical maps, hand made in Hong Kong. The layers are cut along contour lines, creating a 3D map. We started producing these maps in early 2017 and are now offering them for sale. Each item is hand made, involving mapping (GIS), laser cutting the layers, painting the baseboard blue, gluing the layers in place piece by piece and adding a frame and title block. Contact tom@cassiopeia.hk for more info, including quotes for custom maps.
STANDARD MAPS
LANTAU large map (55cm x 45cm, 100m contours): HK$1,500
LANTAU small map (28cm x 23 cm, 100m contours, no frame): HK$1,000
HONG KONG map (60cm x 50cm, 100m contours): upon request
Materials:
- 5mm plywood base with water based blue paint
- 3mm MDF laser cut layers, attached with wood glue
- 20mm x 20mm solid wood frame, attached with screws
Note: all maps are hand made, so final results may slightly vary from these pictures
SPECIAL ISSUES
CUSTOM map for Lantau Base Camp
LANTAU coloured layers (30cm x 25cm, 100m contours)
KOREA (250m contours)
made in Hong Kong
THE MAKING OF
1) I create the maps in a GIS software package called QGIS, with coastlines from OpenStreetMaps.org and elevation data from the SRTM survey, and then i generate 100 meter contours. I separate this map into 9 layers (coastline, 100m, 200m, to 800m contour maps).
2) I cut each contour map on the lasercutter, starting with the coastline map as in above picture, which gives me 9 groups of pieces.
3) I paint the baseboard in blue, and glue the pieces layer by layer, carefully looking on my laptop screen where the pieces should go.
maps in production at the MakerHive, 2019 [picture above]
4) Then i put a simple wooden frame around it.
