For this assignment, I decided to create an American diamond by cutting out stars and stripes from my diamond. In order to do so, I downloaded the diamond template from canvas and opened it in Illustrator. I then began creating my design, choosing to have 3 stars and 5 stripes (all equally spaced out). 

However, I began encountering difficulty completing the assignment once I started working with the machine. Initially, my file had hidden lines that I had missed/forgotten to delete, causing the program to keep some parts in the “fill” and state error ( something along the lines of “the length or arc needs to be changed to account for small angles”) . Once I cleared those lines, I would still face the same error. However, I noticed that in the manual for setting up the program, it stated that the arc should be 0.2 or smaller if needed, so I changed it to 0.1 to see if the file would work. The system no longer gave me an error and I was then able to export the file. On the other software, I noticed my file had a fair amount of random lines (most inside a cut), and when I did a dry run, the plasma cutter would go over each cut several times before moving to the next. In order to avoid these random lines and extra cuts, I simply would press “hold” after it finishes the first cut, press “jump”, select the transverse line to the next cut, press “go”, and then press start. This technique, which I learned from Sarvesh, proved to work and I was able to cut 2 diamonds out.

After cutting the diamonds out, I began post-processing both pieces. First, I used the angle grinder on them to remove the extreme amount of dross on the back.

I then used the sand blaster to remove imperfections on the surface and to create a clean, uniform look.

Lastly, I decided to spray paint each piece black. I painted the front side of each and let them sit for an hour before doing the back side.

Clean Workstations

Materials

• 1 sheet of steel

Cost Estimate

• Steel: After looking through Home Depot, I would estimate that the total steel would cost around $10
• Labor: Since my diamonds are American themed, I based my hourly wage on America’s minimum wage, which is $7.25/hour. Excluding wait time and time spent fixing the machine, I spent roughly 4 hours working on the diamonds. Therefore, the total labor cost would be $29
• Total Cost Without Machinery: $29
• Machinery: $3000 (educated guess)
• Total Cost: $3029