Process - How We Make a Lake

We sell our wooden lakes personally at art shows or via this website
and we ship them from here at Lakes of Wood, right to the wall of your cozy lake home. 

After the design stage is complete, each lake is cut out one layer at a time, beginning with the bottom, and ending with the shoreline rim. Islands, rockbars, sandbars, and other underwater humps are also cut out as individual pieces. Sugar Camp Lake (shown below in our example photos) has no islands, nor does it have any underwater humps, and so this lake is made up solely of the six layers of wood.  More complicated Lakes of Wood, may consist of several HUNDRED additional pieces, each hand stained and hand glued!

Six sepaarate layers of wood per assembly

Cut out layers, unstained

5 0f 6 layers stained and glued

Outside edge routed and sanded

Shoreline stained dark after sanding

Back stained, signed and numbered

Finished lake with deep coats of laquer

Finished back with felt pads and laquer

Extemely fine detail on each peice

Every Lake of Wood is a signed and numbered work of art. Our example lake here is Sugar Camp Lake #2. No one else will have Sugar Camp #2 after this lake is shipped to it's owner. The round buttons on the back of the lake above, will have felt pads placed on them after the final coat of laquer is sprayed on this lake. The felt pads allow you to lay the Lake of Wood on the table to examine the detail, and also prevent any marring of your walls while your Lake of Wood is hanging in a place of prominence.

Mitch tracing prior to staining

Mitch staining layer number 2

Each finished wall hanging is made of six or more layers, custom formed to portray your lake's shoreline and bottom features, as well as highlight all the islands, rockbars, sandbars, and drop-offs! A rich MinWax™ finish brings out the subtle glow of this beautiful wood. The patterns revealed by this topographical technique uncover the unique beauty of each individual lake.

Our "wooden lakes" look great in any room and make a 
thoughtful and unique gift for any lake lover!