I started off with the plasma cutter, which involved me creating a file that could be read by the plasma cutter. I had trouble for a while because i wanted to print out a face using text, but it wasn’t showing up. I eventually went with my initials using a simple rectangle and oval. The plasma cutter cut out my design and then it was up to me to start post-processing it into something I liked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this, I used the angle grinder to remove the dross, resulting in a smoother product. I went in with the metal file after make the inner edges smoother and make the points of the diamond less sharp. There were one or two places that got slightly disfigured during plasma cutting or grinding, but after these two steps, the edges were a lot smoother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sandblasted after this so the face of my diamond had a nice texture and even tone. Next, I attempted to powder coat with a purple powder. However, this was slightly unsuccessful because I did not coat it as much as I thought I did while I was coating and after it came out of the oven, it was not a nice coating at all.

This, however, was fine because I wanted to add different colors to the diamonds using spray paint. I used a blue and a white spray paint and sprayed lightly from ~1.5 feet away to add a design with flecks and splotches of paint. This helped brighten up the design and were good colors to contrast with the purple base. Overall, I love the light touches of purple, blue, and white and the texture of the diamonds, so I’m proud of my finished product!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clean workspaces:

 

 

 

 

Cost Model:

Cost Type	Cost	Price	Source	Quantity	Total
Materials	6″ x 18″ x .025″ Aluminum Sheet Metal	$12	Menards	1	$12
	Powder coating powder	$9	Amazon	1	$9
	Spray Paint	$6	Home Depot	2	$12
Labor	Plasma cutter Operator	$20/hr	ZipRecruiter	1	$20
	Prototyping Engineer (You!)	$35/hr	ZipRecruiter	1	$35
Overhead	Facility Cost (Machine Time)*	$100/hr	CNC Zone	2 hours	$200
Total					$288