I wrote to Ganoksin yesterday about my difficulty with a disc cutter. The punches are either dull or I am not using it correctly. Where do I find my posts? Thanks.
You may never find it. Just ask your question again and we will try to reply. I have had the same disc cutter set for years and it works fine. I use it in a press most of the time to make sure that the force is applied perpendicular to the cutter. This is more important for the smaller cutters. I know this as I broke one hitting it at an angle. If you don’t have a press, place the cutter on a solid metal surface like an anvil with a rubber pad between to protect the anvil surface. Be carefully how you strike the punch with a hammer. Use a metal hammer and strike such that your striking force goes straight through the cutter. Older and less expensive cutter punches have a square edge that passes through the cutter hole. This means that all the cutting force is applied equally all the way around at the same time. Newer and better cutters have an angled cutting edge on the punch. This applies the force progressively around the cutter hole. The fit between the punch and the hole may also be less accurate for older and less expensive cutters. Some metals are more sticky than others. Brass is sticky. You might try playing with the level of annealing of the metal to avoid this. Finally, from time to time, it is suggested that you can make small abrasive discs with your cutter. This is true, but it will dull your cutter. Finally keep it clean, dry and you might add just a little light oil. Good luck…Rob
5 Likes
I looked all over for your post as well and I don’t see it anywhere. Like Rob said can you repost your question.
To answer your question about how to find your previous posts. You can click on your name, then activity. Then all of your posts are listed.
Thanks so much!!
Jeff
4 Likes
Hi Mayci,
Let me start by admitting I don’t cut discs frequently and I own a cheap disc cutter, but I do have a couple of suggestions. First, I’ve been able to sharpen the edges of my punches by patiently sanding the face gently using 400 and then 600 grit sandpaper on a very flat surface. You have to be careful not to rock the punch as you are sanding it. I have only tried this with an inexpensive set. I would be surprised if you would need to do this with a premium set.
You might also want to watch the video below. I can confirm that the trick Andrew Berry suggests with a bench vise works like a charm. I own a heavy brass hammer but I haven’t used it to cut a disc since I found this video. I’m not sure I would stick an expensive disc cutter in a vise but this technique has certainly improved my experience with my cheap disc cutter.
Good luck!
Melissa
Andrew’s videos are always informative. I learned to add a shim of equal thickness to the material that you are cutting to the opposite side of the disc cutter. This makes a lot of sense, especially if you are cutting thicker material. While I do have a very nice press, I don’t have a large vise in my shop, so I can’t use the vise method. It does seem clumsy to me. My biggest concern is that the material being cut can easily slide out of alignment with the cutting hole until it is held in place with compression. This can also happen using a press. I have done this before and you can get a nice disc with a flat spot. Thanks for sharing Andrew’s video…Rob
3 Likes
Greetings Mayci
I have used the same disc cutters for 25 years and I am going to replace them, probably with the same product. I bought a $50.00 set of Beadalon disc cutters (5 disc sizes) at a 1/2 price sale at A.C. Moore with the intent of getting a better set as soon as I could. $25.00 was pretty approachable for me at the time. I haven’t yet. Not because I can’t afford to but I just haven’t had the reason too. The old set are only now starting to show some wear. I cut most of my silver and copper discs with a hammer for years. And I had been pretty successful in that time. But I bought 20 ton press 15 years ago and that was a game changer. Less wear and tear on me and the cutting surfaces. I have a large vise but I don’t use it a means of driving the cutter. There just isn’t room on the benches. But I suspect it would work fine. I would be concerned about alignments. A large vise doesn’t have to be mounted in the traditional horizontal manner on the bench. I have seen them used in boatyards and welding shops mounted so the vise faces are horizontal to the floor. These usually were for jobs proprietary to that particular shop. Pressing bearings into housings isn’t much different from pushing a punch through a disc cutter.
I haven’t tried using a backing material for a cleaner cut, never crossed my mind. I can see where an angled cutting surface on the punch would be a benefit.
Good luck with your projects. I will bet you will get a good answer from the folks on this forum.
Don Meixner
2 Likes
I completely understand the concern about alignment and it did take a bit of practice to get to the point where I could consistently get good use of the metal. My vise is bolted to my bench in the traditional horizontal manner so I cut my discs exactly as Andrew demonstrates in his video. I only do this to cut “throw-away” copper discs that I use to produce quick enamel samples so I can test enamel colors direct on copper. I don’t use these samples other than to store them for future reference in a binder. I’m pretty casual about waste with my 22 gauge copper, but you can see from the attached photo that I’ve gotten pretty good at using this vise/cheap disc cutter method with minimal waste. I can knock out 20 or 30 discs in about 15 minutes.
disc cutting.pdf (145.5 KB)
Thanks so much for your informative message.