Cutting a perfect circle etc

[Radleigh]

I need to make ribs for the inner structure... Having never done it before, can anyone throw some info to help me in my direction.. I've got the shapes I need, Just need to cut it perfectly. It's harder than it looks.

Same as holes, whats the best tool. I get several to cut, ranging from tiny to fairly large. (Up to an inch.) I have a small hand drill with bits from .3 to 1.6 i think it is.

Cheers in advance.

[smeds]

To get the shape you need, you will need a profile gauge. As you say you already have the shapes I assume you have one of these.

To help cutting circles you will need

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/PKN4101

Edited April 14, 2011 by smeds

[Giorgio N]

Ah, the circles cutting problems.... haunted me for ages have to say, now I'm finally sorted for most sizes.. most but not all yet !

The compass cutter posted by Smeds is the best solution. Buy one for which spares blades can be found easily, a worn blade will make a mess of the job ! For thicker plasticard, it might also be worth using the compass to start cutting a slot and then finish the job with a cutter.

The problem with compass cutters is that they can't cut circles with diameter smaller than 10 mm. And sometimes there's the need to cut smaller ones.

I've tried several solutions for this, and on plasticard a decent job can be done using a drafting template and a scriber. A metal template is better, as in the longer term the scriber might wear out a plastic template. The technique doesn't work on paper though, something that is sometimes needed to cut decals. It also works fine down to 4-5 mm diameter, below that it's not very easy to work. Best solution for smaller diameters would be a punch-n-die se, however these are expensive, and at the moment for such sizes I'm using a leather punch ! This works very well both on both paper and plasticard.

[Radleigh]

Thanks chaps!!