Cut this out this weekend for my wife. 24ga hot rolled steel. Finished with flapper wheels to remove the mill scale and then orbital sander to remove the wheel marks. Finished with Krylon glitter paints and then a glaze overcoat. (Cold here so I didn’t use the blasting cabinet & powdercoating setup because the shed isn’t heated. Should have though it would ultimately been faster.)
Oh, and from the laser a little personalized mailbox full of valentines. The side is engraved with an image of a couple and the date I proposed. Tossed in a couple of handfuls of the laser version of those conversation heart candies.
Looks great!! My wife sometimes mumbles about all the time I’m spending out in the shop… until I come back in with some lovey dovey stuff I made for her…
It’s pretty stiff - I can bend it by hand but it’s not floppy or anything. The next piece of steel I had big enough (it’s about 20"x20") was 14ga and I think that’s overkill for art
I was going to spot weld a sawtooth picture hanger on the back but I had a star cutout at the balance point so it would have hung off kilter
So I’ve got a small brad the color of the wall and hooked the point of the star over it
Major happy wife points for sure. Things like the laser & plasma means I can get something up that’s not something everyone else gets. We’re old enough that jewelry, clothes etc are all in the “have enough” category.
I am heading towards not enough wall space though ️
james,
What were the settings you used on the 24?
I picked up a 4’x10’ sheet of it on my last trip to the yard but I haven’t had good luck with it. I seem to either go too hot or too fast. Your sign came out sweet.
I’m now defining my projects with higher speeds and slow it down in Mach 3 based on the cut characteristics (whether I’m seeing a lot of topside sparks). That helps eliminate rear dross.