Bison and wagon train shadow box SVG
A bison and her calf grazing on the open prairie as a wagon train goes by: two covered wagons and a horse on the rise behind them, a low sun over the far hills and tall grass at the front. 5 sheets of card, cut and stacked with a gap between each, make the picture. The files are free, and every part of the scene can be moved, swapped or resized below before you download.
5 sheets at 8 × 8 in, zipped, with a note on putting them together.
Free for personal and commercial use, no sign-up. What you can do with it.
The 5 sheets
Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 5 is the front. Each one is a single piece with the same frame round its edge, so they line up when stacked. The colours shown are the “Autumn” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 5, “Tall grass”, the slowest: at 0.9 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 5, “Tall grass”, fills the most of the view, 30% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Low sun | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc | over 2 mm | 23% |
| 2. Far hills | A gentle slope, with: Oak tree with a broad crown | over 2 mm | 6% |
| 3. Wagon train | Rolling ground, with: Covered wagon with a canvas bonnet, Standing horse silhouette and Covered wagon silhouette on the prairie | 1.1 mm | 19% |
| 4. Bison | Rolling ground, with: Bison silhouette and Baby bison calf | 1.9 mm | 16% |
| 5. Tall grass | A gentle slope, with: Tall grass with seed heads, Wild grass with seed heads, Grass silhouette and Bunch of grass | 0.9 mm | 30% |
Measured from the files at 8 × 8 in. The narrowest part is the thinnest neck of card that holds anything on; sharp tips are not counted. “Seen from the front” is the share of the picture that sheet fills once the sheets in front of it are in place.
Will it cut at your size?
The download is 8 × 8 in. The scene maker above makes the same scene at any of these sizes; the thinnest part scales with it.
| Frame opening | Each sheet | Narrowest part | Depth needed | Fits a 12 × 12 in mat | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 6 in | 152.4 × 152.4 mm | 0.7 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 20 × 20 cm | 200 × 200 mm | 0.9 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 8 × 8 in | 203.2 × 203.2 mm | 0.9 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 23 × 23 cm | 230 × 230 mm | 1 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Cuts easily |
| 25 × 25 cm | 250 × 250 mm | 1.1 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Cuts easily |
Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.
Making this one
The bison are bold shapes that cut easily, with nothing under 1.9 mm at 8 inches. The wagon wheels on the third sheet, at about 1.1 mm, and the tall grass at the front, at 0.9 mm, are the fine cutting. The horse stands over the shaft of the first wagon, so that the two read as one team. Nothing hangs on a thread.
- Cut all 5 sheets from 160 to 220 gsm card at the same size.
- Lay them out in order, sheet 1 at the back.
- Put strips of 3 mm foam tape round the border of sheet 1 and press sheet 2 onto it with the edges level. Carry on to sheet 5.
- Fit the stack into a deep frame with the front sheet against the glass. For a light box, run a strip of warm white LEDs round the inside of the frame behind the stack.
The zip includes these steps as a text file, each sheet as its own SVG and all 5 side by side in one SVG. More on paper, frames and lights is on the shadow box page.
The parts, on their own
Everything in the scene comes from the free SVG library, where each has its own page and file:
Questions
Can I show a whole herd?
Yes. Select the bison sheet in the maker and add more from Animals: a standing bison, a running one and a calf. Make the far ones smaller.
Can I leave the wagons out?
Yes. Remove them in the maker and the third sheet becomes a bare rise. Add a few more bison there, smaller than the ones in front, for a herd on the skyline.
Can I sell boxes I make with it?
Yes. Finished pieces are yours to sell. The files themselves may not be sold or shared; send people to this page. See the licence.
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