Gasket Cutter

[jdurand]

A couple of our products use what appeared to be a standard gasket, only it's more like "we'll custom make these for you". I did have a source in China that would custom make them and get them out fairly quickly, but they started not answering messages and the last box of them never arrived.

*grump*

I had to buy some for $$ to ship orders then ordered a big sheet of the FDA approved gasket material and proceeded to make my own cutter.

The outside is done, I just have to make the cutter for the inner hole. That should be done tomorrow. I'm also going to chamfer the back side of the cutter for general looks and handling.

Outer Punch Material: 2.5 inch O-1 drill rod (I happened to have this)
Inner Punch Material: 1.125" 1018 steel rod (from scrap bin)

Made with band saw, lathe with boring bar and chamfering done with triangular carbide insert.
I used the small chuck on the lathe since it's a self centering one. The big chuck might have been in the way with my angle cutting.

Boring center hole for small punch.


Finished outer punch.


I'll add the inner punch picture tomorrow when I finish it.
{picture here}

[jdurand]

I figured I'd post the video of the boring process, not very exciting but someone might be having a slow day.

[DIYer]

Thanks jdurand! We've added your Gasket Cutter to our Miscellaneous category,
as well as to your builder page: jdurand's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Gasket Cutter by jdurand

tags: cutting tool

[jdurand]

As promised, the rest of the story...

The scrap steel I had for the center hole was too large, so turn it down to about 0.002" less than the hole in the main punch.


Next, face and cut the cavity and cutting edge.


Face back, chamfer edges, done.




Time to test, cut outer diameter


Without moving the big cutter, cut the inner hole


Success!


That's the actual first test part. There's two cut marks on the backing plastic because I didn't push hard enough to cut all the way through the first time. Large diameter needs a lot of push.