Hello everyone,
I'm new to scratchbuilding, and would like to try and find an assortment of flat, basic shapes. Essentially, most of my building experience comes from Legos, and I want to find a consistent set of parts that I can use to build up more complex pieces.
Having read some of the other threads on this forum, I see that the most common ways to get styrene circles is to use punch and die sets, or a compass/scribe, or use sharpened brass tubes. For such a basic shape though, isn't there someplace that would sell large quantities of little 1 mm x 6 mm discs?
6 mm and 4 mm circles / discs
Moderators: Joseph C. Brown, Moderators
There are a variety of solutions for this problem. The simplest is to buy the small punch & die set from Micro-mark. However, be forewarned, despite being just small pieces of metal rod, a metal plate with holes in it, and a plastic sheet with holes in it, this tool set, on sale, is approximately $50.
But they work, and they work well. You can churn parts by the dozens in a minute or two.
If you want a cheaper solution, purchase some 4mm & 6mm evergreen rod. You may not find any 6mm rod, which I will describe a third option using 6mm tubing in a second.
From the 4mm rod, slice small disks off of it. Yes, the disks will be different thicknesses. Apply these disks to your project. Precision sanding with a high grit sanding stick should make them the same, "by eye" the same thickness.
For 6mm disks, get some 6mm tubing. Glue scrap plasticard of the desired thickness, to the rod using superglue. Superglue/ACC NOT a solvent glue. Cut & sand the scrap to match the tubing cylinder. Taking your hobby, wedge the knife edge between the rod & your disk. The disk will pop off. Couple of swipes with a high grit paper will remove the superglue remnants from your disk.
If I sound like a broken record, forgive me, but especially for small parts, practice makes perfect. The first couple of disks sliced off the rod, or the glue scrap, round it off, and pop it off the rod tricks takes some reps before you start churning out parts worth gluing to your project. But once you get the hang of it, you can produce these parts in quantity.
If you need a 1/2 dozen parts, the manual method is cost effective. If you need a hundred parts, go with the punch & die set.
But they work, and they work well. You can churn parts by the dozens in a minute or two.
If you want a cheaper solution, purchase some 4mm & 6mm evergreen rod. You may not find any 6mm rod, which I will describe a third option using 6mm tubing in a second.
From the 4mm rod, slice small disks off of it. Yes, the disks will be different thicknesses. Apply these disks to your project. Precision sanding with a high grit sanding stick should make them the same, "by eye" the same thickness.
For 6mm disks, get some 6mm tubing. Glue scrap plasticard of the desired thickness, to the rod using superglue. Superglue/ACC NOT a solvent glue. Cut & sand the scrap to match the tubing cylinder. Taking your hobby, wedge the knife edge between the rod & your disk. The disk will pop off. Couple of swipes with a high grit paper will remove the superglue remnants from your disk.
If I sound like a broken record, forgive me, but especially for small parts, practice makes perfect. The first couple of disks sliced off the rod, or the glue scrap, round it off, and pop it off the rod tricks takes some reps before you start churning out parts worth gluing to your project. But once you get the hang of it, you can produce these parts in quantity.
If you need a 1/2 dozen parts, the manual method is cost effective. If you need a hundred parts, go with the punch & die set.