INtroduction

In this post, I detail how I used the water jet cutter to cut two diamond shapes out of steel and post process them. I worked with Winson on this assignment, but we each produced our own pieces.

Materials and Tools:

• Designing
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Vector File
• Cutting
  • Waterjet Cutter
  • Metal
• Post-Processing
  • Sand Blaster
  • Powder Coat Kit
  • Air Compressor
  • Vinyl Cutter
  • Vinyl Paper
  • Transfer Paper
  • Spray Paint
  • Clear Coat

Designing the piece

 First, I downloaded the diamond template from Canvas and opened it in Adobe Illustrator. I modified the template to resemble the Electrium Z from Pokemon (pictured below). To do this, I modified the crystal below in Photoshop to isolate the lightning bolt, and overlayed it in Illustrator using the image trace function. Turns out a classmate (Marc) had the same idea, but our final products turned out quite differently.

cutting the piece

waterjet cutting

Next, I cut out the file using the ProtoMAX waterjet cutter. We obtained a new sheet of steel and measured it to be .06 inches, inputting the corresponding material and thickness in the ProtoMAX layout software. I then made sure the sand level was correct, calibrated the cutter height with our steel piece, and filled the water to about 1/8 inch below our piece. After doing a dry run, I proceeded to cut out my design.

My first cut was unsuccessful- the path settings were incorrect, so it cut out the outside of the diamond before cutting the inside.

After ensuring the path settings were correct in the ProtoMAX Make software and doing a dry run, I cut out my design again.

Cleaned workspace

We made sure to drain and clean the waterjet after we were done.

post-processing

Sand blasting

First, I sand blasted the diamond pieces to remove imperfections and smooth out the surface.

powder coating

Next, I gathered the powder coating kit, air compressor, metal tray, and plastic stands to powder coat my diamond pieces. There was no yellow powder available, so I used a purple coat.

We (me and Winson) used paper clips to hang our diamond pieces from the metal tray and proceeded to powder coat our pieces. We struggled at first since the powder coating gun was set to high voltage, and the air compressor was behaving inconsistently, but we eventually got the hang of it. Halfway through the powder coating process, we preheated the toaster oven to 400F.

After powder coating, we put it our pieces in the toaster oven for 20 minutes at 400F to let it set.

clear coat

Next, we attempted to add a clear coat to our diamond pieces.

However, there were lots of dust particles on the piece of cardboard we were using. In addition, air bubbles formed on our diamond pieces, perhaps due to inconsistencies as a result of the powder coat. Therefore, we were very unsatisfied with the result.

sand blasting

We then proceeded to sand our pieces down again.

vinyl cutting

Owing to the electric design but the purple powder coat, I thought it would be cool to spray paint a yellow electric flair using a vinyl mask, inspiried by the Pokemon pictured below. This proved to be very difficult, since it was my first time using the vinyl cutter.

To do this, I first found a lightning pattern online, and used Photoshop to mask the pattern onto the diamond shape. Pictured below are two iterations of my electricity patterns. The first iteration (left) was too small to remove from the vinyl paper, since the small lightning bolts kept breaking apart. The second iteration (right) was better, but I didn’t realize until I cut and removed the vinyl sticker that it was completely inverted.

After inverting my second design, I was able to cut out and remove my desired sticker mask. The final design I used and the sticker are pictured below.

spray painting & final clear coat

After applying the vinyl sticker mask to the pieces, I spray painted them with yellow spray paint. After letting it sit, I applied a clear coat to seal the paint in.

cleaned workspaces

Throughout the post-processing process, we made sure to clean our workspaces. It should be noted that we cleaned the toaster oven using acetone to remove powder that had accumulated at the base of the oven during the powder coat setting process.

Conclusion

bill of materials

• 2x 30 sq. inch pieces of steel sheet metal – $4.16 
  • Diamond piece is 5x3in
• 225 sq. inches of vinyl paper – $1.00
• Purple Powder Coat Powder – $14.00
• Yellow High Perf. Enamel – $10.00
• Clear Enamel – $7.00
• 3 days machine use – $10.00
  • Ion Lab Houston prices
• 10 hours labor at $10/hour – $100

Final Cost: $146.16

Final product

The overall steps, as listed on the back of my piece, are as follows:

1. Water Jet
2. Sand Blast
3. Powder Coat
4. Clear Coat
5. Sand Blast
6. Vinyl Cut
7. Spray Paint
8. Clear Coat

Not listed are attempts at hand sanding and wire brush sanding after the first clear coat (step 4), but it proved insignificant and I proceeded to sand blast the piece.

The final product is pictured below. The first (right) turned out well, and has an unintentionally broken paint pattern, I think due to forgetting to shake the can before painting. The second (left) did not turn out as well, I think due to a combination of lazy vinyl mask placement, too much paint, and the paint not setting completely.

final words

Overall, this project was a roller coaster. I learned many valuable skills while cutting and post-processing my steel diamond- most importantly, patience. Post-processing emphasizes the patience needed to let powder, paint, or clear coat settle and sanding before moving onto the next step. It was a hard lesson, since I feel that many failures could have been averted had I not been so hasty. My final product is not perfect, but I am proud to have explored so many skills while producing it, and am sure to do much better the next time I do something similar.