On this assignment we were supposed to manufacture a small shape of the first state we lived in the U.S.

The only state I lived in was Texas!

We had to build it on metal, in my case, I used steel. To cut steel in 2-D shapes, the best option available was the Plasma Cutter, and that is what we used. To get to the final form of the object, we went through many steps.

First, we downloaded the file with the Texas outline from the indicated website, but this file had some problems, so, we had to find another one and prepare it to the plasma cutter. We just followed the instructions on the handout about preparing the file and it was pretty straightforward. Lab assistant Sam helped us with cutting the shape. The test cut without current was important to be sure that we would have space in the metal sheet to cut Texas outline using the scale I used. Below, there is a picture of the object just after being plasma cut:

Post processing was required to make it presentable. The next step was sanding, to remove the sharp edges and the slag in the borders. I used a sanding file for this part. After that, I used some sand paper to sand the surface and remove the rust. After those steps, the shape looked a lot better, as you can see in the picture below:

At this point, we were ready for spray painting. So, I got some cardboard to cover the ground where I would paint and tried to paint it for the first time, however, the paint did not go really well, and I got a very irregular color distribution. Therefore, I decided to sand it and try again. I just repeated the procedure but being more careful this time. The result was a lot better:

In the next day, I went to the OEDK again and painted the other side of it and got the final form that lays now on our ENGI 210 table. I hope y’all like it!