I need small discs

[MysterG]

I have need of some small (1/2" diameter) discs of steel and copper. Thin, just to stamp letters onto.
There must be some form of punch that would do the job but I can't find anything.
Everything seems geared towards producing a neat hole rather than a neat disc.

Any suggestions?

 

[Robert Weaver]

Annular cutter with the correct inner diameter? But of a waste perhaps.
22mm too small, 24 too big.

 

[8ob]

A witney punch set will have 1/2 dies.

Bob

 

[nickk]

A witney punch set will have 1/2 dies.

Bob

Mine stops at 3/16”

 

[Onoff]

Leave some 1 Pence pieces in a strong acid for a while. As kids we'd use the neat syrup used to make Coca Cola at the local Schweppes factory.

It started as a means to clean our copper change up. We were gutted when we left our sweet money in for too long one day and Queen Elizabeth II disappeared overnight. Everyone's dog got a name tag thereafter.

Much safer than placing on railway tracks...

 

[Kram]

Part off in lathe

A press, punch and die?
Bore a 1/2" hole in some silversteel, harden, use a 1/2" lathe bit as the punch. Needs accurate alignment. May be able to chamfer the die to help it self align but that might not give good parts..?

There was discussion a while back on dies, seem to remember the thread had links to buy decent punch sets.

 

[timgunn1962]

Carbide-tooth holesaw. Use it to cut a hole in some scrap. Remove the pilot drill. Clamp the scrap to the sheet you want to cut a disc from. Cut the disc using the scrap as an external "pilot". For 1/2" discs, I'm guessing you'll probably want about a 16mm holesaw.

The carbide cutters, even the cheap ones off ebay, amazon, etc, tend to cut cleaner holes than the bimetal ones. For one or two, a bit of mdf will do for the scrap. If you have a few to do, a bit of steel is probably better.

If you have lots to do, it'll get old quickly.

 

[8ob]

Mine stops at 3/16”

Not sure of the model but this is a bit of a lump, just checked through the punches and there is a 1/2" punch in the set. Not sure whether that would produce an accurate enough disc.

 

[Screwdriver]

Flypress. I can do it for you if you want to supply the material.

What thickness of material?

 

[Agroshield]

This is a common requirement in the jewellery trade. Search for 'disc punch', if only for pictures of how the apparatus is constructed (hint: the sheet is sandwiched between two plates with holes):

Premium Disc Cutting Kit – Pepetools

Don't forget a 2lb brass mallet! Click here Pepetools Premium Disc Cutter Kit is newly improved version of the world's best selling disc cutter. Engineered to the industries tightest tolerances, this product is built to last a lifetime. Precision machined from hardened steel, each plate is...

pepetools.com

https://www.cousinsuk.com/category/disc-cutters

Round Disc Cutter 5 Hole Punch Set, Metal Circle Cutting Punching, Jeweler Tools - Round Disc Cutter

Round Disc Cutter 5 Hole Punch Set, Metal Circle Cutting Punching, Jeweler Tools Jewellery Circular/ Round Disc Cutters 5 Hole Punch Set Metal X Large 1/2"-1" This circle disc cutter comes with 5 hardened steel punches ranging from 12.7 - 25.4 mm in width and a square steel disc cutting block...

toolsmasteruk.co.uk

 

[nickk]

Not sure of the model but this is a bit of a lump, just checked through the punches and there is a 1/2" punch in the set. Not sure whether that would produce an accurate enough disc.


View attachment 465410

Tidy @8ob ,mines just a hand held.

 

[Kram]

This is a common requirement in the jewellery trade. Search for 'disc punch', if only for pictures of how the apparatus is constructed (hint: the sheet is sandwiched between two plates with holes):

Premium Disc Cutting Kit – Pepetools

Don't forget a 2lb brass mallet! Click here Pepetools Premium Disc Cutter Kit is newly improved version of the world's best selling disc cutter. Engineered to the industries tightest tolerances, this product is built to last a lifetime. Precision machined from hardened steel, each plate is...

pepetools.com

https://www.cousinsuk.com/category/disc-cutters

Round Disc Cutter 5 Hole Punch Set, Metal Circle Cutting Punching, Jeweler Tools - Round Disc Cutter

Round Disc Cutter 5 Hole Punch Set, Metal Circle Cutting Punching, Jeweler Tools Jewellery Circular/ Round Disc Cutters 5 Hole Punch Set Metal X Large 1/2"-1" This circle disc cutter comes with 5 hardened steel punches ranging from 12.7 - 25.4 mm in width and a square steel disc cutting block...

toolsmasteruk.co.uk

A neat solution to the alignment issue, thanks, I may have to make one!

 

[Onoff]

Do you know any electricians?

A ready source of 20mm knockouts and galvanised to boot!

Too big?

 

[Rrobson]

I’m happy to see @Agroshield posting what I’d refer to as a shim punch (bottom picture)

They are dead easy to make if you’ve got some high tensile fasteners, a lump of decent steel, a pillar drill with reamer and a lathe. I’d have to find one I made years ago for making shims to explain how rough they can be. The clearance was a little large so it wouldn’t do anything thinner than 6 thou cleanly, but it would do up to 40 thou stock if using a 4lb hammer.

 

[MysterG]

Thanks all. Lots of options. 1/2" was just a rough size, an 1/8th under or over wouldn't matter.

I don't have "some high tensile fasteners, a lump of decent steel, a pillar drill with reamer and a lathe" so I'll probably have to buy something which I'm not against.

Flypress. I can do it for you if you want to supply the material.

What thickness of material?

Thanks for the offer, but I'm happy to buy/make/cobble something together to do it myself. I have no idea how many or how often I will need them.

Just came across this. More than I want to spend but a set of the cutters which are available separately down to 12mm, plus some angle iron, a bottle jack and some judicious welding ....

 

[Agroshield]

Do you know any electricians?

To obtain them, you would have to lift the floorboards, remove all the polythene bags the sockets came in and dig through all the offcuts of wire to find the knockouts.

Actually, it might be easier just to remove the kickboards of a new kitchen install, where you will find the same discarded trash stuffed under the units.

 

[Onoff]

What about beer bottle caps? Win win!

 

[MysterG]

What about beer bottle caps? Win win!

I'm teetotal

 

[gaz1]

would these do you ?

Pardon our interruption...

you could buy steel washers same thing

 

[Beanwood]

How about these:

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