Before this project, I had been in the Machine Shop a couple of times for my engi 120 class where I threaded a metal rod. But I had never seen or used the plasma cutter before. This project has got me experience using the plasma cutter and post processing metal.

The main part of this project was, of course, using the plasma cutter. I first created my design on adobe illustrator making sure not to leave any remnant vector lines anywhere so the software wouldn’t get confused. I then loaded up my design onto the computer and cut it out after following the directions.

After plasma cutting I was left with alot of left over material which i was able to angle grind most of it off.

I then used the sandblaster to clear off the surface of my metal and make it smoother

Finally I spray painted my metal orange on both sides and let it out to dry

I faced challenge spray painting my pieces though, the tempature was very low when I try spray painting outside and it make the paint take longer to stick, and even after drying for hours when I picked it up it left smudges of my fingerprints on some of them. Also when I sand blasted earlier my metal didn’t turn out the way I wanted it some parts still aren’t the smootheist, alot of area of improvement for next time!

• Steel: After looking through Home Depot, I would estimate that the total steel would cost around $10
• Labor:  I consider the level of my work to be pretty low so around $10 an hour, I was working for about 5 hours on and off so total :$50
• Machinery: $3000 (educated guess)
• Total Cost: $3060