From coordinates to wood — Robert Dempsey

01 / A coordinate grid

Building the grid.

The full island began with a carefully aligned coordinate grid; 8 columns and 9 rows that divided the model into tiles, each covering approximately 50 km in distance.

The first full-island model used six larger sections—two across and three high—based on the same framework.

Why work in sections?

A single mesh of the whole island put too much pressure on the digital software, and reduced resolution by smoothing out the landscape features.

Preparing smaller areas separately and stitching together in the software made it possible to retain a high resolution for the full piece.

Illustrated overview of the coordinate grid, digital mesh and oak terrain model on three connected planes — Coordinate grid, digital mesh and oak terrain · An illustrated overview of the process.

Numbered longitude and latitude grid covering Ireland — The coordinate grid · 8 × 9

Digital Ireland terrain with coordinate axes and reference planes — Coordinate axes and reference planes

Close view of the digital terrain mesh where adjoining sections meet — Detail across adjoining sections

Finished oak relief model of Ireland in a rectangular frame on the workshop bench — The finished oak model

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02 / Getting the sections to meet

A problem at the edges.

The earth’s curvature presented an unexpected problem. When the terrain was turned into flat tiles, early sections came out wider at the top and narrower at the bottom.

I corrected the way the coordinates were projected, using a Mercator projection to bring adjoining sections into alignment.

See the alignment tests

The test pieces made the mismatch visible. Later sections could be brought together with the terrain continuing across their joins.

Two MDF test tiles showing their adjoining edges — Early tile-edge test

Adjoining birch plywood terrain sections showing the alignment of the landscape — Lining up sections in Birch Plywood

Early MDF tile alignment test held beside a straight edge — Checking a test tile against a straight edge

03 / Cutting the landscape

Then the wood takes over.

The landscape is machined into the timber with a CNC router. The cuts reveal both the terrain and the character of the wood: grain, colour and, in plywood, the layers within the blank.

A CNC router machining Ireland in oak on a white backing — Machining the oak

A successful oak tile with detailed coastal relief — A detailed tile test

A framed oak model of the full island on a rectangular white backing — The finished framed model

Sanding and finishing complete the work by hand. Light is part of the finished piece too: even a small change in direction can bring different ridges and valleys into view.

What the tests taught me

Some cuts exposed problems with the setup or the transition between timber and backing. Test pieces made it possible to work through those problems before committing to the finished model.

An oak island model during an unsuccessful machining test — An unsuccessful machining test

An oak terrain tile held up in the workshop — A later successful tile test

Credits

Tools behind the terrain

Digital terrain models generated using TouchTerrain ↗.

Harding, C., Hasiuk, F. & Wood, A. (2021). TouchTerrain—3D Printable Terrain Models. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 10(3), 108. Published research ↗

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