Burt & Mullet Lakes, carved in layers of birch

Every depth a real step in the wood, not a print.

Regular price $ 298.00

ShipsNext business day
ShippingFree in the US
Returns14 days
ArrivesReady to hang

“Beautiful piece, expertly crafted. Packed well and arrived in perfect condition.”

Mark S., Hudson, OH. Verified buyer

Burt and Mullett Lakes together on one chart, carved in Baltic birch at 24.5 by 31 inches: two of Michigan's biggest inland lakes, the river that joins them, and the historic waterway they anchor.

Details
Dimensions
24.5 × 31 in
Material
Baltic birch, hand-stained water
Build
Up to 12 laser-cut birch layers
Detail
Carved bathymetric relief, laser-etched labels
Soundings
NOAA nautical survey data
About this piece

These two giants form the heart of the Inland Waterway, the 40-mile chain that lets boats travel from Crooked Lake all the way to Cheboygan and out into Lake Huron without ever touching the big lake's weather. The Indian River connects Burt to Mullett in a lazy few miles, and Mullett holds the deeper basin of the pair, home to lake sturgeon that can outlive the people who fish for them. On the chart, both basins carry their own stacks of birch with the river a thin engraved thread between them, the whole route boats have run for more than a century.

Each contour is a laser-cut sheet, stacked by hand, names engraved into the wood, acrylic glass over the relief, solid Baltic birch frame.

Waterway families collect all four lakes of the route eventually. These are the two big ones, side by side the way they belong.

Indian River sits at the joint between the lakes, with Cheboygan at the waterway's Lake Huron end and Topinabee on Mullett's western shore. The route's saltier destinations are close by: the Mackinac Island chart and the open water of Lake Huron.

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

Orders placed by 2 PM EST ship the next business day, free anywhere in the US, with tracking.

14-day returns if the size or frame is not right for the room.

Going on someone else’s wall? It ships packed and ready to wrap. Add a gift note in your cart.

Run a finger across it. You can feel the water get deeper.

Not a print

Run a finger across it. You can feel the water get deeper.

Up to 12 sheets of Baltic birch, each one laser-cut to a real depth contour from NOAA survey data, stained darker as the water gets deeper, then stacked by hand. Deep water falls away layer after layer; the shallows sit close to the surface, just like the real thing.

12
layers of birch at most, cut one depth band at a time
NOAA
sounding data behind every contour
Etched
names and depths burned into the grain, not printed

How the water becomes wood

6 steps, no shortcuts 6 steps. Swipe →
01
Survey
Real bathymetric sounding data sets every contour line before a single cut is made.
02
Cut
Each depth band is laser-cut from its own sheet of Baltic birch, up to 12 layers deep.
03
Stain
Water layers are stained by hand, reading darker the deeper the water runs.
04
Stack
The sheets are registered and stacked in sequence, and the bed's true shape rises out of the wood.
05
Etch
Depths and place names are burned into the grain itself, never printed on it.
06
Frame
A solid Baltic birch frame and acrylic glass finish the piece, ready to hang.
Anyone who grew up on this water has a spot on this chart.

Anyone who grew up on this water has a spot on this chart.

The dock, the crossing, the stretch of shoreline that meant summer. Most people find theirs in the first minute. Every shoreline, island and depth contour of the Burt & Mullet Lakes is cut, layered and etched from real survey data.

Built for the wall it ends up on.

Built for the wall it ends up on.

A solid birch frame, an acrylic front that keeps dust off the layers without the glare of glass, and hanging hardware already on the back, so it goes up the day it arrives.

From the people who hung one

What people say about our charts

No reviews on this chart yet. Same birch, same hands, same workshop as the 3,400+ reviews below, 5.0 average.

Questions people ask before they buy

Straight answers to the things that stop an order.

When will it arrive?

Orders placed by 2 PM EST ship the next business day, free anywhere in the US. You get a tracking number as soon as it leaves.

Which size should I choose?

The larger size is the one most people hang in a living room, over a sofa, console or mantel; it reads clearly from across the room. The smaller size suits a hallway, office, bathroom or boat. Both carry the same detail.

How is it packed? Will it survive shipping?

Each piece ships framed, with the acrylic front already in place, in a box built for it. "Packed well and arrived in perfect condition" is the most common thing reviewers say about delivery.

What if it is not right?

14-day returns. If the frame color is wrong for the room or the size is not what you pictured, send it back.

Is this a print?

No. The water is up to 12 physical layers of birch, each laser-cut to a real depth contour and stacked by hand. The names and depths are burned into the wood. You can feel every step.

Do you have my lake?

195+ lakes, bays and coastlines. Use the map below to find yours, or search it. Each of the Great Lakes, for example, is also available on its own chart at closer scale.

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