personal_site/_posts/2023-08-17-maps.md

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WIP: Maps Maps Maps	post	I want to make some really big laser etched maps.	/assets/blog/maps/tests.jpeg	<script type="module" src="/assets/js/model-viewer.js"></script>

There's something fascinating about maps. I particularly love how they have this kind of fractal level of detail as you zoom in and out. Look at this one, I really like the minimalist black and white design.

The black and white map tiles are from Stamen design, essentially a really nice style sheet on top of © OpenStreetMap contributor data. The rest are OS Maps from the National Library of Scotland. The viewer is leaflet.js. I used CSS container queries to make this a nice square shape.

In related news, my excellent co-working space / carpentry workshop / pottery studio currently has a massive laser cutter which we may or may not keep for the long term.

The laser cutter can do either a raster or vector. Here is a raster into some birch plywood. They're 10cm square with slightly different settings.

Given the laser cutter is so massive I thought it might be fun to try to produce a huge map. There's a spot at the top of the stairs in our flat that I think could be nice for it. My partner and I have always always lived somewhere in this vertical strip of london so the tall thin shape has some significance.

A blender render of what it might look like based on a 3D scan of my flat. This took all my very rudimentary new blender skills to put together.

Here's a 3D version. I got the scan with the lidar scanner on an ipad.

Given how long those took to cut, I'm thinking that I'll split the design into multiple panels so I don't have to babysit the laser cutter for 24 hours.