My task for this project was to plasma cut two metal cut pieces of diamonds with a design. The goal was to have my pieces end up identical. For this project the plasma cutting didn’t prove successful at first.
My design was a cute pig inside the diamond because pigs are my favorite animal and a lot of my other designs have a pig theme. Originally, I had a face for my pig design but when I tried to plasma cut there were issues with the cut and I had to make a new design.
Original Pig Design
Then I got rid of the eyes face and tried to cut just the outline but when I tried to cut there were path errors showing up on platform I used, Torchmate. Ultimately, I had to start over. With the help of a lab worker I was able to change the multiple strokes and paths I had on my drawn design to make a single path for an easy cut.
Updated Pig Design
Path of Plasma Cuts
Finally! My metal piece was cut out. But the next step was post-processing.
Metal Pieces Cut by Plasma Cutter
Metal pieces pre-processing
My first method for this was angle grinding. Luckily I barely had any dross on the pieces because when I first cut I used the box with the line test pieces to determine what speed the cut should have. I chose a speed of 210 because I saw that the metal I used was the most similar to the one of thickness 1/16 and on the test there was a low amount of dross.
After Angle Grinding
Line test Piece
After angle grinding I needed to file any things hanging off and to get the sides and insides less sharp. Once I finished this I began sanding the pieces using the sandblaster to get rid of rust and so that when I paint the paint will stick better.
Me sandblasting
Sand Blasted and Filed Pieces
Fully Sand-Blasted pieces
Once I finished all of these I began spray painting. First I worked with a glossy white coat on each side. Then I did a recoat.
First White Spray Painted Layer
After this I added pink spray paint to represent the color of a pig. Then once this dried I added another layer of pink. One this was done I decided I wanted a cool ombré and spray paint effect on my pieces so I sprayed them until they looked as similar as possible on one side for each. Once I finished with this I added a clear coat on top for a clean finished look!
Final Pig Pieces with Design on Front Side
Here’s my clean workspace after everything:
Cost analysis:
Clear Gloss Spray Paint (Rust-Oleum 2X UltraCover): The price of Clear Gloss Spray Paint is $6.97 for a 12 oz can according to Lowe’s.
White Gloss Spray Paint (Rust-Oleum 2X UltraCover): The price of White Gloss Spray Paint is $6.97 for a 12 oz can according to Lowe’s.
Pink Gloss Spray Paint (Rust-Oleum 2X UltraCover): The price of Pink Gloss Spray Paint is $6.97 for a 12 oz can according to Lowe’s.
Angle Grinder: The price of an Angle Grinder is about $40.
Sandblaster: The price of a Sandblaster is $250 for a basic unit.
Operating Cost for Sandblaster: The cost to operate a Sandblaster is $2 per square foot.
Labor:
Plasma Cutter: The price of a Plasma Cutter is $1,000.
Prototyper: The pay per hour for a Prototyper is $25 per hour and for 2 hours of work the pay is $50 according to Zip Recruiter
Operating Cost for Plasma Cutter: The cost to operate a Plasma Cutter is $0.50 per minute and for 30min this was $15
Therefore the total price is around
$1,372.88.
