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Heya folks, getting more into scratch-building nowadays and only have 2mm as my smallest size for rivets. While decent enough for converting large structures, on your average chimera/hydra conversion, the rivets are pretty monstrous.

So, I've been searching for a 1mm hole punch, and not finding anything. The closest I've come is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Euro-Metal-Punch-Pliers-1-25mm/dp/B003L7PLNK/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I know leather hole punches work for making rivet, but I'm not sure it would because of its angled pin. Theres a hole out the bottom the angled pin pushes it through, but I wonder if the angled pin will give me a mangled rivet. Has anyone used these or have a solution of their own?

Thanks!

Imm is still very big when you compare it to a model.
On orks it might work.
The other alternatives include:
Breaking opening a water filter and separating the little grey beads from the carbon. This takes time (I know as I've done, even sorting out into different sizes using a sieve at first then almost one at a time with the little ones!). Then drill a small 'pit' into the rivet location, pick up a bead with the tip of a sharp scalpel, dip into a small pool of super glue then atach to the model;
Buy a beading tool (see http://www.shesto.co.uk/p2279/Beading_Tools_%28Grainers%29/product_info.html) and punch out the rivets. Apply as above but without doing the 'pit';
get some fine round plastic rod, drill a hole (about 1mm deep), glue in a small length of rod & leave to dry. Once the glue is dry clip down the rod until a small amount is sticking out then file/sand until you get the shape & length you require.

Whats your opinion on that europunch I linked? Is the angled tip going to cause an issue, or will it just make a 1.25mm rivet which may still be too big in your opinion?

I've only ever used leather punches with hollow flat tips, so I'm not sure how the design would change it.

It's designed for punching metal so sould be fine on plasticard if you're careful. As I said in my post though, I think 1.25mm will be too big for minis - if you've got a 1mm drill bit just hold it up against a mini to see what I mean.

I'd pass on that punch, if I were you. Even if you wanted to make 1.25mm rivets (and it seems you'd prefer to go smaller), that punch will give you a clean enough hole in your plasticard sheet, but the punched section you're after will likely be mangled. That punch is angled so as to reduce the force necessary to shear the thin gauge sheet metal it's intended for. Styrene is far more malleable than, say, galvanized steel duct, so it will stretch and distort and tear the punchout, instead of shearing cleanly.

I've used my sheet metal punch on plasticard before and the results aren't pretty. The holes are passable with a bit of cleanup, but the punched sections are pretty rough. I stick to the sliced rod method, since my orks don't care if the head is crooked.

Sigh, I was worried about that, thanks for the heads up, I had been waiting on pulling the trigger on that punch.

I've found punches down to .8 and 1 mm, but they're leather working punches (fine) and tend to be the rather nice ones (~40 dollars). As such I was hoping for something a bit cheaper..but..eh

There's another good thread somewhere over on our site, but I think this is the one:

http://paperhammer40k.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=30&func=view&catid=5&id=171

I've continued looking around for the "perfect solution" and wanted to know what you guys thought of something like these:

http://www.tedpella.com/histo_html/unicore.htm

They seem "perfect" however I'm wondering if the tip will be sharp enough for plasticard, although if not, I could also use green stuff sheets that I've flattened and let dry. The tip is made from stainless steel and described as "razor sharp", on the back end is a plunger you can depress to eject the core sample. These are made to sample organic matter/tissues for lab analysis, but I think they may do the trick.

Thoughts?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I solved my problem, after staring at my own link and trying to figure out where to buy one that seemed reputable, I realized that it was basically a glorified (and certified for medical/scientific use) mechanical pencil with a metal tip.

I took a .7mm mechanical pencil, sharpened the tip lightly with a stone (I've read sand paper will work as well) and am now using it to punch excellent rivets from dried sheets of greenstuff. I may get a .9mm and .5 mm as well at some point.

Huzzah, and the pencil isn't harmed (much). Just don't route around in your bag for it too vigorously...you may get more than you bargained for.