For my plasma cutting project, I decided to go with the outline of a turtle since my family has a pet turtle!

I started with designing an Adobe Illustrator file using the diamond template provided. I put a turtle SVG at an angle in the middle of the diamond and loaded it to be cut by the plasma cutter.

The pieces cut out really well! I wanted to keep the cut-out turtles from the center of the diamond, but unfortunately they had broken.

After cutting the pieces out, I wiped them dry. Then I took them to the loading dock to angle grind away the dross.

From there, I sandblasted each side for an even and smooth texture.

The above is my view looking into the sandblasting machine.

To apply some color to the pieces, I decided to go with a gold spray paint. The first layer that I applied, I ended up with a very uneven coat (as shown below).

I tried to wipe off a bit with a paper towel, but this caused it to smear in a worse way. As a result, I re-sprayed over the first layer, but because the layer on the metal was still wet, the new coat didn’t stick to the metal underneath. I consulted Hayden, and ended up letting it dry first. Then I gently sanded away some artifacts before applying another coat. After letting it dry again, I decided to go for a third coat to hide some of the blemishes. However, a few of the blemishes were still visible afterward, as seen below.

I didn’t want to mess with it too much more, as it was already quite smooth and even, so I just gently sanded down the inside edges that had a build up of spray paint. Below is a picture of my final workspace:

 

And here were my final pieces:

Cost analysis (for both diamonds):

• Metal
  • Research: MetalsDepot sells a 1 x 2 ft. hot rolled steel sheet for $17.20. Given that I used about 30 sq. in. of steel, proportionately it would be $1.79.
  • Cost: $1.79
• Plasma cutting operation
  • Research: A Weld Talk forum estimated that operation costs for a plasma cutter was around $1.20/hr. Given that I only used the plasma cutter for around 15 minutes, this amounts to $0.30.
  • Cost: $0.30
• Sandblasting operation
  • Research: I couldn’t find insights for operational costs, but a Practical Machinist forum discussed a minimum hourly rate that is often charged for sandblasting is $60/hr, which is the rate I’ll use. I used the machine for about 20 minutes, which is $20.
  • Cost: $20.00
• Sand paper
  • Research: I used grit 1000 sand paper, which online (Amazon) sells 25 for $8.99. I only used one piece, so that is $0.36.
  • Cost: $0.36
• Spray paint
  • Research: I used gold spray paint from Rust-Oleum which goes for $6.83 a can.
  • Cost: $6.83
• Labor
  • Research: According to Zip Recruiter, a metal cutter in Texas makes around $20 per hour. In total I worked for around 3.5 hours.
  • Cost: $70
• Total: $99.28