Jennings Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Say I've got some clear styrene (as from a CD jewel case) that I need to make a bunch of equal sized, perfectly round disks from. You can't punch styrene, and in any event, I need them to be relatively large (larger than any punch & die set I've seen). Like on the order of 6 mm diameter. How would you do it? I'm at a loss.. J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Say I've got some clear styrene (as from a CD jewel case) that I need to make a bunch of equal sized, perfectly round disks from. You can't punch styrene, and in any event, I need them to be relatively large (larger than any punch & die set I've seen). Like on the order of 6 mm diameter. How would you do it? I'm at a loss.. J Good question :blink: Maybe use a brass tube with 1/4 i.d., sharpen one end and make little identations into the cutting edge to have a make-shift hole saw? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RotorheadTX Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Can't you use thinner plastic?? I made the fuselage windows for my 1/72nd scale Chinooks from thin clear sheet plastic, and they're about that size. I was lucky and struck a workable solution completely by accident. First of all, I purchased a circle template from Michaels or Hobby Lobby like this one: http://cdn.dickblick.com/items/554/75/55475-1004-3ww-l.jpg Then I found a wood-handled dissection probe with what appears to be an aluminum point/stem (bottom center): http://toddlerglasses.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/dsc02992.jpg I found I could sharpen the probe point with coarse sandpaper. Then all I had to do was select a hole in the template that matched the desired size, lay it over the clear plastic, then repeatedly scribe around the inside of the template edge until the circle could be popped from the sheet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 That's kind of what I was thinking. Two questions though: 1. What kind of plastic did you use? I'm also thinking the stiff, very clear stuff like blister packs are made out of now (the kind you have to use a nuclear weapon to open) 2. How did you glue them in without messing up the clear glass? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Netz Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 If you are not stuck with the CD case material and can go thinner with the packaging you mentioned, then I'd find an appropriate dia. brass tube, sharpen it, and hammer punch out your disc. Not knowing your project, is there a way you could use a square piece of clear and just build your round frame to place it up against? Curt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TonyA Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 If .250 inch will work Harbor Freight sells a 9 punch and die set that goes from .125 inch to .750 inch. .125, .187, .250, .312, .375, .437, .500, .625, .750. It's listed online for $29 and discount coupons aren't hard to find. Not sure if Evergreen sells clear styrene in sheets but Plastruct does. They have different thicknesses and it isn't nearly as brittle as CD cases are. You can use it for vacuum molding or simply heat and pull down over what you want to copy. Don't have it in front of me and don't recall the thicknesses but I bought a pack of several small sheets with 3 or 4 different thicknesses. (word for today...thicknesses...lol) I have a similar set of punches but one of them is chipped, it may be the .250 inch one. If not, I can try punching some discs out of the clear I have and let you know how it goes. How many do you need? I'm in VA too, if it works and I have a thickness you could use I could make some for you. Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
majortomski Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 If you have a Hobby Lobby or a Michaels they carry clear plastic sheets in multiple sizes. When I do discs I have an old Xacto parallel line cutter that will work quite well as a compass trouble is it will leave a dot in the center of the disc. But since I only do that for turning props for me not a problem. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RotorheadTX Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 That's kind of what I was thinking. Two questions though: 1. What kind of plastic did you use? I'm also thinking the stiff, very clear stuff like blister packs are made out of now (the kind you have to use a nuclear weapon to open) 2. How did you glue them in without messing up the clear glass? The plastic I used was just some clear sheet...Evergreen, Plastruct, whatever... I glued them in with Tamiya clear applied with a toothpick tip. The great thing about the hole template was the fact that I was able to make the disks really tight to the opening, so they pressed in and didn't need much 'glue' to hold them in place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TonyA Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Well, my .250 punch isn't chipped. It's a little dull but will work. Finished discs are .252 in diameter. I have some .015 thick that is Evergreen and some .010 that is labeled Squadron. There's another pack somewhere but I haven't found it yet. My offer stands. If you can use that diameter and thickness I'd be happy to knock some out for you, no charge. Send a private message if you'd like. Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dhtrident2e Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Say I've got some clear styrene (as from a CD jewel case) that I need to make a bunch of equal sized, perfectly round disks from. You can't punch styrene, and in any event, I need them to be relatively large (larger than any punch & die set I've seen). Like on the order of 6 mm diameter. How would you do it? I'm at a loss.. J Jennings: check out the stationery and scrapbooking sections and look for paper punches. they come in multiple shapes and you can find circles. A few days ago i bought a 1cm diameter punch to make masks to spray roundels. I've seen them in larger diameters (maybe 1 inch)and in the States you should have ample supplies. they wont cut into something thick but they puch even aluminum can sheet. also I bet that right into your desk you have an old paper punch, these office tipes puch a hole 6mm in diameter. hope this helps, saludos, Trident Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dhtrident2e Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Say I've got some clear styrene (as from a CD jewel case) that I need to make a bunch of equal sized, perfectly round disks from. You can't punch styrene, and in any event, I need them to be relatively large (larger than any punch & die set I've seen). Like on the order of 6 mm diameter. How would you do it? I'm at a loss.. J Jennings: check out the stationery and scrapbooking sections and look for paper punches. they come in multiple shapes and you can find circles. A few days ago i bought a 1cm diameter punch to make masks to spray roundels. I've seen them in larger diameters (maybe 1 inch)and in the States you should have ample supplies. they wont cut into something thick but they puch even aluminum can sheet. also I bet that right into your desk you have an old paper punch, these office tipes puch a hole 6mm in diameter. hope this helps, saludos, Trident Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dsmith Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Jennings, You need this. True Punch If you only need a few circles, I have all three sets. Shoot me an email at royaleresin at gmail dot com if you are interested, I can probably help you out. They are great products. Cheers, -Doug :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce Roberts Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Another punch set option: http://www.harborfreight.com/9-piece-punch-and-die-set-95547.html Looks similar to the True Punch set (I'll bet the True Punch is better quality). I have this Harbor Freight set, and use it to punch clear plastic circles as backing for scratchbuilding jet fans so I can see my circle markings as I add the fan blades, and it works fine for that. Hope this helps, Bruce Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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