For a lot people who make the jump to a CNC plasma cutter, one of their first projects is often a piece of decorative artwork like a sign. The risk is low, the reward is often high, and the learning curve is just steep enough to be a real lesson.

That was the case with our assistant product manager, Nick. He chose to make a simple wall sign in the shape of his GTI track car to walk first-timers through the process. In this video, he shows how to start with a basic picture, like the ones we all have on our phones. A quick edit in a photo editing app (MS Paint, in this case) made ti ready for tracing. He then imported this into Fusion 360, a free CAD software app that creates a manufacturing file the CNC plasma cutter can use.

Watch as Nick goes from a simple photo to a cool metal cutout in about an hour’s time using Eastwood’s 4’x4′ CNC plasma table and Cut 40 plasma cutter.