For this assignment, we both had to plasma cut our home state, Texas. After scaling down the model to about 5″ x 5″, we created a path using the plasma cutter software and cut 2 copies of the great state of Texas. The metal came out with some slag around the edges, which had to come off first in order to work on them further. Using the files in the OEDK, we removed the slag from the edges and then sanded them with sandpaper in order to ensure they were smooth.

This left the pieces discolored around the edges but also smooth. We both then decided on a different texture for our pieces and sandblasted them. This provided an interesting texture. Ray liked this finish and decided to keep it. This is his piece, except without the black:

I also like the sandblasted look, but also wanted to add some color. Therefore I decided to spray paint it black. In addition, I wanted to add a bit of a personal touch, and taped over part of the state before I spray painted in order to leave a T in the middle. This left me with this:

We had a lot of fun on this project customizing how it looked.

Thanks for reading,

Tim