Jonathan,

It would help us considerably if we knew where you are. As this is an international forum, we have members from all corners of the globe.

If you're looking specifically for a radial-cutting circle shear, I'd suggest you look at Craigslist, ebay and other forums for selling used equipment. I've seen used Pexto (and similar) circle shears selling for as little as a hundred dollars. Be advised though, no shear will cut without leavin gat least a small burr that you will need to dress off with a file. The only way to cut circles that leaves no burr at all is with a waterjet or laser, but those are rather more expensive than I imagine you're willing to invest in this as a beginner.

If you want to spend even less, consider a hand shear such as the Unishear or Kett shear. Chinese knock-offs of these tools sell for as little as thirty bucks and will cut up to 14 gauge steel just fine, and radii as small as about 2" comfortably. Checkout Harbor Freight. With these tools you have to layout the circle and follow the line, but that isn't very difficult.

If you have a bandsaw,itis a simple matter to make a pivot-point circle cutting jig for it. A bit of searching on the 'net will get you plans online, I'm quite sure. I cut most of my discs on the bandsaw freehand.

Rich

Here are instructions for making a circle shear:

http://www.jamesriser.com/RiserCircle/Shear.html

Best,
Fred