I was hoping to cut some discs out of a 1/32" scribed wood sheet from about 3/8" to 1" in diameter. I have a hole saw, but it won’t do that small and the teeth are too coarse to cut the thin sheet. I could try to use a hobby knife using coins to cut around, but I was hoping there might be a better method. Other thought is that a styrene sheet might hold up better to being sawed.
All suggestions appreciated.
Thank you,
I don’t know what the intended use is/are, but I would resort to slicing dowels like carrots. What you are looking to do would put me off word-working forever.
Really, you need long wood and a lathe, or dowels of the right or close diameter, and use a hobby saw to make the thickness while simply slicing the dowels.
-Crandell
I think you need to look around for something called a “hollow hole punch”. I think you can probably buy them in individual sizes. Here are two links that show examples of what I’m talking about: http://www.harborfreight.com/9-piece-hollow-punch-set-3838.html?utm_term=3838&utm_medium=cse&utm_source=nextag and
http://www.nextag.com/General-Tools-Instruments-Hollow-561779457/prices-html
I think that the finished size of the hole ends up being the diameter specified for the punch, so obviously the scrap circle (which is what you really want) will be undersized by twice the thickness of the tool cutting edge.
Thank you for the responses.
What I am looking to do is make some empty cable reels 3’ to 8’ in diameter. The majority of the ones I have seen in model catalogs seem to be full of cable. The manufacturer in the city my son used to live in, provides a lumber in reels out industry.
I had thought of using dowels for the cores, but not slicing up larger ones for the ends. The grain might not be quite right, but I may be able to do some scribing to change the looks.
Just got an order from HF yesterday. Those punches would probably work fine for the smaller ones.
Thanks again,
Herpa made empty cable reels in the 6’ to 8’ size in HO. Don’t see it listed the current Walthers cat.
Try the website http://www.herpa.de/
I have done something similar in the past.
Get a piece of dowel and using a very small screw, attach the sheet to the end of the dowel. Make sure it is already cut down to a reasonable size. Put the dowel in your drill and touch it down very gently to a piece of sandpaper or a fine wood file. The hole the screw makes will end up being the hole in the reel. Make sure you get the screw as close to centre of the dowel as possible.
We use to make wood washers like this for our model planes. They were much lighter than metal ones. Good luck.
Brent
My suggestion would be to get a 1" copper coupling, (from your local plumbing supply house). Sharpen/bevel the outside creating a knife-like edge on one end. If you have a drill press you can use it like an arbor press to push your circular knife (tubing coupling) through the work piece. If not, you can either use a C-clamp to give you the required pressure, or try tapping.
FYI a 1" copper coupling will have an inside diameter of 1 1/16 (1.0625) inches which should work out to about 92.5 inches in HO
Just a thought
Kevin
Since you apparently want a number of disk sizes, you might look at a home improvement store, like Lowe’s or Home Depot, or one of the craft shops like Michaels for adjustable hole cutters. They look like beam compasses, but with a blade holder instead of a holder for pencils or pencil leads. They can be set to any scale size, and a few passes with a sharp blade should able to give a decent circle from scribed wood or plastic sheet. I have one that looks like a regular compas but holds a micro knife, and a couple of the beam compass types that use regular #11 blades.
Kevin is on the right track here. Find a scrap piece of thin wall conduit, place it on the wood surface, and strike it with a hammer. The shorter the piece of conduit, the better. The 1/32" thickness of the wood is thick enough not to split, but thin enough to cut the circle when struck with a firm blow of the hammer. You can also file the edges of the conduit for a cleaner cut.
Rich
I like the copper pipe coupling idea, too. Get a short piece of the mating pipe, and attach that to the other end of the coupling. That will give you a better handle to work with. Use a block of wood on the other end, and you can give it a whack with a hammer without damaging the pipe.