Norfolk, Virginia 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Norfolk, Virginia 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Norfolk, Virginia 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Norfolk, Virginia 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Norfolk, Virginia 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Norfolk, Virginia 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall

Norfolk, Virginia 3D Wood Map | Laser-Cut Birch Depth Chart

$ 328.00
Size
Frame
24.5 x 31 in
Baltic birch, hand-stained water
Up to nine laser-cut birch layers
Carved bathymetric relief, laser-etched labels
Soundings: NOAA nautical survey data
How the Water Becomes Wood

A chart is a stack of flat sheets until the water's real soundings tell it what shape to take.

  1. SurveyReal bathymetric sounding data sets every contour line before a single cut is made.
  2. CutEach depth band is laser-cut from its own sheet of Baltic birch, up to nine layers deep.
  3. StainWater layers are stained by hand, reading darker the deeper the water runs.
  4. StackThe sheets are registered and stacked in sequence, and the bed's true shape rises out of the wood.
  5. EtchDepths and place names are burned into the grain itself, never printed on it.
  6. FrameA solid Baltic birch frame and acrylic glass finish the piece, ready to hang.

Norfolk in laser-cut Baltic birch, 24.5 by 31 inches: Hampton Roads carved one depth contour per layer, one of the great natural harbors on Earth and the busiest naval water in the world.

Hampton Roads has hosted more consequential ship traffic than almost any American water: the ironclads Monitor and Virginia fought history's first battle of armored ships here in 1862, and today Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval base in the world, lines the harbor with carriers whose numbers get counted from the bridge by every passing commuter. The Elizabeth River carries the mermaid city's downtown waterfront, the battleship Wisconsin retired at its pier, and the James arrives from its own long history upstream. On the chart, the deep engraved channels that make all of it possible converge where the rivers meet the roadstead.

Contours are laser-cut sheet by sheet, stacked by hand, engraved, and set behind acrylic glass in a solid Baltic birch frame in Dark or Light.

Carrier country, tugboat country, sailboat country: one harbor holds the whole fleet.

The engraving spans the naval station and the roadstead, the Elizabeth's branches, Portsmouth, and the James's mouth. Companions: Virginia Beach to Kitty Hawk and Chesapeake Bay.

  • 24.5 × 31 in
  • Solid Baltic birch frame in Dark or Light
  • Acrylic glass front, ready to hang
  • Free next-business-day shipping on orders placed by 2 PM EST
  • 14-day returns
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