Hello Shishona!
From what I understand, you're looking for a workflow to help create a relief map using a series of laser cut layers. You'll probably need a digital elevation model of the state of Idaho. DEMs are data you will have to upload. If you don't have one, you can likely find one on the internet. Here's a good place to start. At the very least you should be able to use this link to find the shapefiles you'll need for the Rivers, Highways, and cities. If you can't find a DEM, you can make your own by downloading SRTM data from USGS Explorer, and splicing the tiles together. If you need help doing this, you can look into creating a mosaic dataset. After splicing together the tiles you can upload a shapefile of the boundary of Idaho and use the extract by mask tool to limit your extent to the state of Idaho.
Once you have your dataset, I would recommend reclassifying the raster into a set number of classes. Doing this could allow you to maintain your z-axis accuracy, and could make the process of laser cutting the individual layers easier. Calculate the scale of your map, then determine what 1/8th of an inch is relative to your elevation (for example, maybe 1/8th of an inch on your model will correlate to 1000' in the real world). In this example you would have 11 layers. You can then reclassify your DEM into 1000' chunks (classes). Be careful to check the units of your DEM. Reclassifying however, will reduce the accuracy of the topography by breaking the model into classes. Instead of having a smooth relief map, you will have distinct breaks. You could use a wide belt sander to reduce the thickness of your layers accurately to 1/16". In this instance you would reclassify into 500' classes, which would result in 22 layers total. The more layers you use, the finer your resolution/accuracy, but the more work you will have to do. You could then systematically remove each class individually for laser cutting using the extraction toolset.
At this point, you will have the DEM broken into classes for laser cutting, and shapefiles denoting the rivers, cities, and highways. To create a series of JPG images for use in laser cutting, you will have to make a series of maps. You can manually set the scale to correspond with the scale you used to calculate your classes. I would recommend etching the outline of the next layer on top of the previous layer so you know where to glue/epoxy the next successive layer. Manually creating 22 maps can be a little tedious, so if you want to really stretch your GIS abilities you can play around with Data Driven Pages (also known as Map Series in ArcGIS Pro) to automate this process. Once you have the appropriate number of maps at the correct scale you can Export your maps to the file extension of your choosing, and get to cutting!
Good Luck Shishona! Feel free to reach out again if you run into any snags along the way.
-Marshall
