3D print the Great Lakes down to its bed
The Great Lakes with the water taken away: its bed from NOAA’s Great Lakes bathymetry, shaded darker where it is deeper, and the land around it in relief. Open it in the generator, change the size or colors, and export a slicer-ready 3MF.
406 m of water, 2 mm on your shelf
The print covers 1,331 by 917 km. On a 160 mm print the deepest point sits 2 mm below the shore.
| Deepest point | Scale | |
|---|---|---|
| 160 mm default | 2 mm | 1:8,320,000 |
| 200 mm | 2.4 mm | 1:6,660,000 |
| 256 mm | 3.1 mm | 1:5,200,000 |
- Real depths
The bed comes from NOAA’s Great Lakes bathymetry, a grid about 90 m apart that NOAA compiled from depth soundings. Water depth: Sea floor drains the water away and prints the bed in its place.
- 40 times deeper than life
At true scale the deepest point would sit 0 mm below the water line on a 160 mm print, too little to see. The print opens with the Elevation multiplier at 8 and the Sea floor depth scale at 5, so the bed is 40 times deeper than life and the land 8 times taller.
- Shades of depth
The bed prints in four shades of the water color, lighter in the shallows and darker in the deeps, each its own filament. Change the number of shades on the Water tab.
About the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are five interconnected freshwater lakes on the border between Canada and the United States: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. Michigan and Huron, joined at the Straits of Mackinac, are hydrologically one lake. They drain to the Atlantic through the St. Lawrence River.
Together they are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by area and hold more than 20% of the world’s surface fresh water. They formed at the end of the last glacial period, about 14,000 years ago, as retreating ice sheets uncovered the basins they had carved and meltwater filled them.
Next to the others
the Great Lakes next to the other lakes
Common questions
Is the Great Lakes depth map free?
Yes. The generator runs in your browser and exports a 3MF file you can open in any common slicer. There is no account or payment.
Are the depths real?
Yes. The bed is read from NOAA’s Great Lakes bathymetry, a grid about 90 m apart that NOAA compiled from depth soundings, when the model is made. It is not estimated from the land around the lake.
Is the lake printed at its true depth?
No. It opens 40 times deeper than life, about 2 mm at the deepest point on a 160 mm print, because at true scale the bed would be only 0 mm deep. Lower the Elevation multiplier or the Sea floor depth scale for a flatter model.
Can I get an STL instead of a 3MF?
The generator exports 3MF, which keeps each color as its own part. Any slicer can open it and save an STL if you need one.
