As we are in the final stretch of the semester, things start to build up, and knowing the amount of work I have, I chose to pursue the beginner’s level as I have never used the Plasma cutter before.

Before anything mechanical, I used Adobe Illustrator to set up a shape to cut inside of my diamond base shape. I originally tried to design a mobius strip, and wanted to create an illusion to the eye. That did not work out as there would be hanging material that would not be attach to my diamond. I moved on next to the shape of a dolphin as it would be a easily identifiable shape that would plasma cut.

I brought my file to the laser cutter and set it up with the help of the instructions sheet and TA on Torchmate. I had more difficulty understanding which area the plasma cutter would cut, but with the help of the TA, I was able to set up the plasma cutter to cut both my diamonds.

Next, I used the angle grinder to grind away the dross and rust that was on the steel after using the plasma cutter. I used the magnetic grinding block to hold my piece down as i sawed away at the excess material. Since it was my first time, I had some difficulty which led to some parts of the metal being very thin. I learned to not hold the grinder near an edge for too long otherwise it will make the steel very thin. I grinder until my 2 metal piece were shiny.

This process made some of the edges very sharp so I used a filer to file away at the edges especially the corners. I also used the sandblaster to remove any scratches on the steel and prepped it for post processing.

I decided to go with a white color for post processing so I went to the loading dock to spray paint. I used hooks to let the paint dry on both sides and it worked for the most part expect for the top when the paint started to slide down due to gravity. Something I would also change next time would be to let the paint dry overnight indoors as I think that some debris stuck on to the paint while it was drying.

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with my two metal pieces considering that I have never used any of these tools before.

Cost Analysis:

24 x 36 sheeet of steel: $19

Spray paint: $6.13

Labour 20 x 4= $80

Use of machine for rental = $80

Total: $185.13