ONCE AGAIN INTO THE BREACH

The time has come again for me to craft.  I did this project all on my own (except for lab assistant help from Milene), and would do it over again if only to fix the evenness of my spray painting,

With my initial cut, I failed to tighten the clamp correctly, and also didn’t check the distance of the nozzle from the metal,  resulting in a mangled bike.  I returned on a later day and correctly cut my diamonds.  I then sandblasted them, and was more than ready to let them dry from a good spray painting.

Momentum thus far had been good.  I enthusiastically cut the vinyl that was going to protect my bike rider and stuck it to both of my diamonds.  Then, as in most situations, that changed.

The art of not settling

After my spray paint had dried, I realized I had only completed two finishing methods, and needed a third.  I took them to the file, only to see the paint warped and moved by the clamp.  My application of spray paint had been sloppy and multi-coated, and was now very dirty, so I half-heartedly sandblasted my pieces.  I did not do this well, and this was reflected in the unevenness of the spray paint final piece.

I re-spray painted the pieces, and peeled off the bikers once again.  Now they fit onto their bikes more cleanly, and the coats of spray paint themselves were cleaner.

 

This project was rewarding because I now know how to use the WaterJet Cutter.  I may use this in the future, as I enjoy the idea of working with metal.

The Cost of It All

CATEGORY	ITEM	COST ($USD)	SOURCE
MATERIALS	Aluminum Metal Sheet	$6.88	Home Depot
	Spray Paint (Peach and Brown)	12.96	Home Depot
	Vinyl	$7.99	Amazon
LABOR	Waterjet Cutter (Hourly), 5 hours Total	$75	ZipRecruiter
OVERHEAD	Hourly, 5 Hours	$75	Cutting Experts
		$177.83