Hi,

I need to make a few wheel hubs from styrene cardthat are about five millitmetres in diameter (the size does not really matter). I do not have any tool for this kind of job (ie. a punch and die set) so I was wondering how I can make small round pieces that are accurate and do not require an excess of time.

Thanks for your help,
Andrew

Most hardware stores have little punch sets for punching holes in leather etc. and they usually come with a serious of different sizes. Just a tap with a hammer and it will punch out your hole. These sets are quite cheap and are useful for loads of things. ie; a sheet of clear styrene can be punched for headlights, cobblestones can be punched from thick card, etc.
Or they might carry an item that has handles like a vice-grips and a wheel that has a series of little punching rings for leather as well. This would work also

That sounds great.
Thanks for the help,
Andrew

5mm diameter, Have you tried the rod or tube ? I think if you are making the hub, the styrene sheet should be relatively thick, it's not easy to get a good result when apply punch on thick styrene sheet. But it is much easier to saw the rod/ tube. Maybe it is difficult to find the 5mm styrene rod. But you may find soft matel meterial rod / tube in the store where selling facilities to artist and the price should be much cheaper than buy the punch tool.

There was a post on this issue in May 2002 :
cutting circles

Here's a part of it that may solve your puzzle, but I recommend you read the whole post.

.../...
3) make your own "punch set".
To make holes of diameters between 4 and 8 mm (too large for a punch & die set, too small for a compass), I use short pieces of assorted metal tubes. It works even better if you make the rim a bit thinner (sharper) with a diamond bur. The thinner the cutting edge, the nicer the cut.
You place the piece of polystyrene on a tough yet flexible surface (a nylon cutting mat works excellent) , place the sharpened piece on tube on top, and bang on it with a hammer.
Short pieces of tube work better than long ones. Try pieces of about one inch. That allows you to hold them without crushing your fingers, and it avoids that they bend when you hit them with the hammer, like longer pieces would.

That sounds like a good idea. The problem is finding a tube that is the correct size.
Thanks for the input,
Andrew

Might also try the crafts section of the local stores as they make paper punches in various sizes, which work with thin plastic