Amsterdam Canal House

Hi guys! This is my first project and i wanted to share it with you guys. I'm 17 years old and studying Industrial Product Design. I made this in my free time at school. If you want to see more of my upcoming work, follow me on instructables.

This is a laser cut of three Amsterdam canal Houses. I designed them by myself in Coreldraw and had it cut out with a lasercut machine. I made it for my girlfriend for St.Nicolas. I also made a christmas edition. So you can change the little parts en you can create a christmas atmosphere!

In terms of the materials needed, this is a pretty easy project. 2 plates of 6 mm wood, 1 plate of 4 mm wood for the round roofs en the little parts.

Step 1: The Inspiration.

First of all, look around on the internet, Pinterest etc. there are many houses and styles. I wanted to have 3 differents houses with 3 different roofs, doors and windows. So look around and make it your own!

Step 2: Rough Design

unimportanttage grab a pen and a stack of paper. Laser cutting produces 2D parts, but with some imagination you can create 3D objects, and often without any fixings at all!I started this design by how big i wanted to make the houses. When you draw it, you have a good impressing of the measures.

Step 3: Vectorise Your Design

For this design I used Corel Draw X7 but any vector graphics package would do.

Once you are finished drawing the outline of each part, check the line width and thickness, in particular look for lines that overlap.

Step 4: Laser the Parts

I didn't use tape on the wood so on my design there is smoke. (see image) if you dont want this, then tape your wood and remove it after it is cut.

Step 5: Making the Christmas Edition

after I designed the canal Houses I made some Christmas decoration. So you can change the small parts and create a christmas atmosphere.

Step 6: Assemble the Led Strip

I bought a led strip with power adapter on ebay for the lights in the house. I brazed the leds. you can also buy cheap leds in the shops, But I wanted a solid light. On the inside I have put tracing paper.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5M-10M-SMD-5050-RGB-LED-Strip-Light-Flexible-Power-Adapter-IR-Remote-Xmas-/262091431750?var=&hash=item3d05dddf46:m:moLvr3-2l6HwJrH_XPesliw

Step 7: Assemble the Parts.

Last of al, put all the pieces together! i used Bison glue. But wood glue would also do the work!

Step 8: