For this week’s assignment, we had to plasma cut a state and post-process it, so that it looked finished and presentable. I chose to cut out my home state of California.

The first part of the assignment, cutting out our state, was very straightforward. We simply loaded the file into the Torchmate software, adjusted the settings of the plasma cutter and hit start. I had cut out mine in the larger size, before the assignment changed, so Dr. Wettergreen cut out two California’s for me at the appropriate scale. I’m not sure what settings he used, but the two California’s produced had very little dross. I just had to dremel, file and burnish the edges.

 

 

 

 

 

I used a vice to hold the piece while I filed the edges. To avoid scraping up my state when I was clamping it, I put a couple small pieces of cardboard between the grip and aluminum state. Once I had it set up, I started with the dremel to remove the dross and sand down the edges. I used the small cylindrical bit to get into the jagged edges and crevices on the west coast of California, smoothing out the surface while preserving the coastline. I then used the file to knock off the sharp edges, rounding them out a bit. My last step was to burnish the edges to produce a smooth finish.

After I finished filing down the edges, I decided to use the sand blaster to finish the surface since I liked the look of the sand-blasted pieces I had seen. It also worked well to remove all the visible scratches and  marks, and produce a much cleaner and finished looking state.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how my two California’s turned out. Their edges are smooth and their surfaces look clean and finished. It was fun to be able to use the plasma cutter and sand-blaster this week! These were tools that I had never had the chance to use before, but that I always wanted to make something with.