For this assignment I needed to use the plasma cutter to make a shape of my home state (Texas, like half the people here) and use post-processing techniques to make it look nice. There’s a nice list of vector drawings of all the US states on Canvas, so I just selected Texas and applied the tool settings. We decided to make our pieces out of aluminum because it’s lighter and easier to work with than steel.

As is the case any time the plasma cutter is used, my piece had some  dross around the edges, but not as much as I had thought it would. I used the files in the downstairs bins to clear it away, leaving a smooth, flat surface.

Next, I used a wire brush to remove as many of the stains and scratches as I could. I got the piece to look better, but not yet complete.

I decided that the piece would look better painted, so I decided to sandblast away the remaining imperfections in the metal’s surface. The sandblasting machine gave me some trouble, but I eventually got it to work.

Finally, I applied two layers of green paint. My particular can of spray paint seemed to apply an unusually heavy coat, so it looks like there might be a bit too much on there. I tried to remove some of the excess paint with a small file, which turned out to be a bad idea as you can tell from the scratches on one of my pieces.

I wish I had more time to tidy up my pieces, but I suppose they’re okay right now.

I had a lot of fun using the plasma cutter. I prefer it to post-processing, which took a long time and wasn’t as rewarding. Hopefully I’ll be able to make good use of the tool in the future.