I finally got the new toys I ordered last weekend, including a disc cutter, which cuts circles out of sheet metal. I spent a little time this afternoon in the garage cutting out discs. It was a little painful. First, because you have to slam down on the contraption with a hammer and I don't have much in the way of upper-arm strength. Second, because it is really hot in Charlotte, and even hotter in my garage, even with both doors open and a fan right in my face! I'm so happy with the results, though! I made several sizes in copper, yellow brass, and red brass.
Maybe it's just me, but I find that I keep coming up with these great projects to do, and then they seem a lot more difficult once I get started. There are a couple of things that come to mind with these discs. I expected to be able to make a lot of rings (just cut one circle, then cut another one out of the middle) pretty easily. But, today I found that since I can't ever get the disc to cut with the first blow of the hammer, and it has a lot of oil on it to keep it from rusting, there's a very good chance that the metal will move around a bit between the time that I set it up and the time that it cuts. This could make some interesting shapes, but probably not the nice, pretty, perfect rings I envision. Then, I wanted to drill holes in the middle of at least some of them so that I can rivet them together. I'll spare you the details, but that's not quite as straightforward as I thought, either. Anyway, I'm not giving up, but I am exhausted already, so stage two will have to wait until tomorrow. Later!
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