World Map Out of Wood

The other day in the store i saw a rather expensive world map made out of wood. This got me thinking i could do this myself. In this instructable i'll try to explain how i made it and maybe help you make one to.

First you need to gather a few materials. The following list contains everything is used:

- 2 pieces of 200x650x32mm pine

- 1 piece of 2700x50x32mm pine

- scrap bits of metal

- small wood screws, any will do

- paint (and brushes)

- wood router

- cordless drill

- mitter saw

- basic handtools

Google a bit and find a map you would like to use. I then imported the file into GIMP (free image editor) and made it a little bit more printer friendly. Then i exported the file as .pdf an printed it on A3 sized paper.

Place the map on the wood, trace it with a pen (or something like that). Remove the paper and then use your pen to draw the map over the lines you just made.

Using the 2700x50x32mm piece of wood i bought, i made a frame around the map. I used wood dowels to connect and align the pieces, a bit of power fix made sure it wasn't going anywhere.

It's now time to grab your wood router. I decided to put a frame around the map and brightened it up with some beautiful curves. Then i used another router bit to make the map look a little bit 3d.

Using the scrap bits of metal and a cordless drill i connected the two pieces of the map together. Using even more parts of scrap metal i connected the map to the frame.

I used blue acrylic paint to color in the sea, in hindsight i think the result was better without the blue paint. If you like the video and this instructable, please give it a thumbs up :)

I was really not liking the blue color i put on it. After some digging in my shed i found a color called 'inflatable blue'. I decided to paint it again using this color. Really, really pleased with the result.