I’m wondering if anyone could tag who made these wood cuts in the lobby? I want to do something similar and would love to ask how it was done or get a lesson!! Thanks
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@mollystrehl she has taught a class on it in the past!
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Thanks!
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Interested in learning this also!
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I think you may mean someone else! While I’m interested in this medium, I do not have experience in this nor did I make these.
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@Mollie is you eric meant I believe.
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Is done on the CNC is the 3D version of a topographical location. The 2D version (street map) can be done both on CNC and laser. You could get a 3D effect on the laser using the Gray scale radiant or reverse carving on thick acrylic but would have to have very precise power ranges.
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I will talk to @David and get a topo class on the calendar for summer!
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Laser is different in that it only delivers power, not a direct depth command. So lasering into acrylic would need some calibration for its depth, and it is somewhat nonlinear, 50% power goes a bit more than half the distance of 100%. But the potential resolution and aspect ratio can be higher than would be possible to achieve with CNC.
Wood will always have some depth variation with the grain. The darker band of the grain is denser and will not cut as deep as the light band of the grain
If you’re lasering, you absolutely should use Tarkin for this. Tarkin’s RF excited source has a very high speed, linear power response. Dorian is HVDC excited and it’s roughly 100x slower to respond, and nonlinear, so not very suitable for engraving.
We used to have a high performance Linux CNC system that could do engraving many times faster than these Lagunas. The motion controller is pretty ancient on these TBH. But they can do it eventually
Also, highly accurate topo maps for the entire world are freely available from the USGD database at Topographic Maps | U.S. Geological Survey
They even have topo maps for the Moon, Mars, and some other bodies. The Moon is highly recognizable, but a relief of Mars isn’t. Mars is actually pretty flat and most people wouldn’t recognize Olympus Mons without being cued in by the colors rather than topo data.
We used to have a big topo of the Moon in the lobby made out of MDF. But something that big would be hard to do now due to the slower speed of these machines.
Good news everyone! @Mollie has added two upcoming dates to teach this class: CNC Machining Topographic Maps, Saturday June 22 and Saturday July 20. 
Please note that this is a digital class only, and has Beginner CNC Router as a prerequisite.
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