Laser Mountain

The weather here in Portland, Oregon has been unusually sunny for this time of year. Instead of going for a hike at the base of Mt. Hood, I decided to laser cut the mountain out of balsa wood (my mental rendition of it anyways).

In illustrator, I drew a couple topo map squiggles and blended the shapes to create multiple levels/altitudes. I also wanted to cut the mountain out, so I created a duplicate of the outer contour path and offset the path by a few points. In-order to get the laser to cut this path, I changed the stroke weight to .25pt, and hit “go”. Just like a hot knife through butter, the laser delicately sliced and burned this piece of balsa wood, quickly transforming it into a 3D topo map.

The Pacific Northwest has over a dozen mountains I’d like to climb. So far I’ve only climbed a handful, including Mt. Hood. Creating a balsa wood mountain after climbing each peak would be a great way to remember the adventures.

Contact me if you’re interested in experimenting with lasers and balsa wood.