Introduction
This project entails water jetting two pre-determined diamond shape out of steel or aluminum with our own original design within the diamond and then post-processing the diamond using multiple techniques. I had used the water jet before, so I was comfortable with operating it.
Preparing
I copy and pasted the given 2D drawing for the diamond shape into a new Adobe Illustrator file. I then added a scuba diver image from the Noun Project. I rotated the image so it looked like the scuba diver was diving deeper into the ocean. I also added a small quarter of an inch hole at the top of the diamond, as I was planning on making two Christmas ornaments for my family’s tree. I chose a scuba diver for the ornaments as I am an avid scuba diver and the rest of my family also enjoys scuba diving. Also, on Christmas day we will be scuba diving in the Caribbean so I thought having a scuba diver ornament would be perfect.
Forgot to take some pictures during the process of designing and water jetting my diamond pieces so here is a cool picture of me scuba diving to liven up my blog post
Water Jet Cutting
I then sent my ai file to the computer next to the water jet. I used ProtoMAX Layout to clean up my design, create the cutting line, and finalize my design. I then sent my file to ProtoMAX Make. I selected the correct material (steel), and its thickness (0.02 inches). I then place the steel sheet into the water jet, and correctly aligned the water jet nozzle above the metal. I then moved the path start location to make sure I was not cutting somewhere on the steel sheet that had already been cut. I attempted a dry run at half speed to make sure everything was ready to go. I then cut my piece. My first cut went really well and the scuba diver looked great. I kept the same settings but adjusted the location of the nozzle and path start before beginning my second cut. My second cut also came out really well. Each cut took about 3 minutes each. I dried off each of pieces and then went to post-process them.
Post Processing
I used 5 techniques to post process my two steel diamond pieces.
- File – I filed the inside and outside edges of both of my pieces to remove any unneeded leftover material and smooth out the edges. It was slightly more difficult to file the inside edges of the scuba diver as the hole size was quite small. However, since the pieces were made of very thin steel, it was manageable. I also filed down the four corners of each of my pieces until they were slightly curved as they were all originally very sharp. This was especially important as I don’t want anyone hurting themselves as these diamond ornaments are placed in the tree.
2. Sandpaper – After filing both of my pieces, I used 220 and 320 grit sandpaper to smooth the edges of my pieces. The sandpaper was slightly more effective than the file at reaching the inner edges of the scuba diver cutout as well as the inside part of the circle.
3. Sandblaster – As I have never used the sandblaster before, Callum gave me a quick demonstration. I effectively sandblasted both of my pieces.
My two diamond pieces in the sandblaster
4. Paint – Originally my plan was to use a set of vinyl cut diamond shapes to paint different colored diamond outlines on my pieces. I attempted to do so on one of my pieces using green, blue, and silver colored spray paint, but I did not align the vinyl stickers very well, and a lot of the paint overlapped and got on the back of the piece, making it looked very sloppy. So, I decided to repaint it and went with a more tie-dye earthy vibe on both sides, with the green being the most important color. I then decided to make my second piece more 3D by using both spray paint and acrylic paint. I first spray painted the entire piece blue. Then I put some red acrylic paint on to a paintbrush and flicked the paint brush at the top of the piece, making the red go randomly over the diamond. I then lightly spray painted some black paint on top to give the overall piece a darker color scheme. The second piece makes the scuba diver look like they are swimming deep in the ocean through a cluster of seaweed/kelp or even underwater fire. I did not paint the back of the second piece.
Paint job for first diamond piece – earthy vibes
Paint job for second diamond piece – deep dive through dark red seaweed/kelp
5. Clear Coat – I then used a clear coat on both sides of both of my pieces and let them dry. The clear coat strengthened each of the pieces so it would retain its color and sheen for many future christmases as well as make the pieces feel slightly smoother.
Labeling all of my post processing techniques used on the back of one of my pieces
Conclusion
I am really happy with how my two water jet and post processed scuba diver diamond pieces turned out and I am excited to share them with my family and add them to our family tree.
Both pieces ready to be put on the tree
Some things I would try to do if I ever attempted this project again would be to attempt to use the vinyl to paint again and to draw a more complex 2D drawing in Adobe Illustrator.
Cost Analysis
30 square inches of 0.02 inch thick steel sheet metal at $0.21 per square inch = $6.30
4 bottles of spray paint (one was the clear coat) at $5 per can = $20
1 container of acrylic paint = $3
2 sheets of sandpaper at $6.77 for 4 sheets = $3.39
Water and Abrasive from water jet ~ $15
Sand used in sand blaster ~ $3
Labor cost – 2 hours of work at $10 an hour = $20
Total Cost = $70.69
