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View Full Version : Engine gaskets and seals- templates available?



Darren Null
04-23-2008, 8:45 AM
A visit to a mechanic yesterday started a thought forming in my head. Gaskets are sort of cardboardy stuff and seals are rubberish....both of which are cuttable by laser. As I'm in Spain, a large percentage of this mechanic's jobs were on hold, awaiting seals and gaskets to arrive in the post.

It occurs to me that this could make quite a good revenue stream; but the downside is that if the seal needs replacing, it's often too shagged to make a good template for a new one. Is there anywhere on the interweb where templates for such things can be got hold of? Are there standard sizes?

Even if it doesn't make much money, it'd be worth entertaining...a tame mechanic when you need one is worth more than gold.

Frank Corker
04-23-2008, 9:08 AM
Darren the material for gaskets can be bought on ebay. Search for gaskets (duh). I have made several gaskets for my Morris Minor as spares are getting harder to find these days. It's just quicker to take the part off, scan it and then draw the shape in corel.

Joe Pelonio
04-23-2008, 9:21 AM
As Frank said, I trace and scan. Have done cork gaskets also.

Darren Null
04-23-2008, 9:23 AM
Frank, I'm disappointed. I expected you to go into your room marked "Engineering, components of"; riffle through a stack of DVDs and upload a cdr containing every gasket and seal for every car ever. :D

Your method can be used in many cases, but -particularly in the case of seals- they are sometimes deformed by use, so what you pull out of the engine isn't necessarily the shape you need for a new one.

Sheets of gasket and seal material can be got fairly easily here...Spain is much more of a 'homebrew' country.

Doug Griffith
04-23-2008, 9:25 AM
Darren the material for gaskets can be bought on ebay. Search for gaskets (duh). I have made several gaskets for my Morris Minor as spares are getting harder to find these days. It's just quicker to take the part off, scan it and then draw the shape in corel.

Morris Minor! I've got a 62 Morris Mini S. Fun little cars.

I'm guessing that vectors for gaskets would be held golden by the automotive aftermarket and OEM.

Anthony Scira
04-23-2008, 9:41 AM
Yeah we had the same thought. The exhaust gaskets that are re-enforced can be a problem. Some have a metal mesh which we cant cut.

The exhaust material comes in a white rubberish material that can cut but it needed so much power and a low speed the edges started to char.

I think the only way I would do it is for a favor or if the gaskets can not be easily replaced and they were willing to pay top dollar.

Mitchell Andrus
04-23-2008, 9:45 AM
I recently cut a very complicated gasket for a friend's 1912 Hupmobile. I took a picture of the part's surface, scaled it and traced it. The second attempt was a perfect fit.

AL Ursich
04-23-2008, 9:53 AM
If you could hook up with a parts place to scan then return to stock new gaskets.... A Shrink Wrap Machine would make that easier...

I would have thought Frank would have had a CD marked "Gaskets of the World"..... LOL.....

Now there is a untapped market.... A CD of Gaskets..... Motors are Motors.....

I like the picture idea too..... Laying a few rulers in the pictures helps with the scale factor too.

AL

James Stokes
04-23-2008, 10:12 AM
I do quite a few gaskets. I allways just take a photo of the part and re-draw.
More and more manufacturers are putting cad drawings on their websites of their parts. If you look for that manufacturer you might find it on the web.

Richard Rumancik
04-23-2008, 10:31 AM
There is a company selling a system to cut gaskets with what appears to be a small flatbed cutter. (Gaskets-on-Demand/ gasketsondemand.com) They allow owners of their system to download gasket files. They seem to specialize in files for motorcycles and smaller engines. If you have to create the file from scratch for a single gasket I wonder if it would be cost effective. I don't expect anybody has a "free" database of gasket outlines.

If you need to get an image, sometimes you could take the image off the mating metal part. (eg clean the gasket surface and then try to get an impression/trace/transfer in some manner. eg outside could be a sharp pencil in most cases. Use some creativity to capture the inside. Use this in conjunction with the old deformed gasket. Quite a bit of effort unfortunately.)

If using the photo route I suggest that you photograph it with a carpenters square or similar in the same plane as the gasket surface so you have a reference. You may need to scale your final vector image in one or both axes. (This could be done after tracing.)

Cautions: if you use the wrong material (doesn't stand up to the heat or the chemical) and the gasket does not seal, the mechanic (and customer) might be less than happy. Also, some gasket materials contain asbestos. This material probably won't cut well anyway but probably shouldn't be attempted.

Rodne Gold
04-23-2008, 10:47 AM
I got some gasket files , however they are acad (or dxf) and mainly for head gaskets , we used to do a brisk trade in copper gaskets, some toyotas , small ford 1600, 3 litre v6 , SBC 350 , Windsor 351, cleveland 351 , BB454.
Wont help with lasers but will with CnC machines.
Easy way to get a gasket into Corel is to either scan it directly , or put it on white paper , spay paint black and scan that. Just print out your traced and cleaned up CDR file and see it matches the gasket by overlaying it , you can get it 100% right before you even cut any tests.

Brian Robison
04-23-2008, 2:31 PM
I make gaskets for my Honda TL125. Remember that the thickness is important for some applications.

David Griffiths
04-27-2008, 5:45 AM
Darren the material for gaskets can be bought on ebay. Search for gaskets (duh). I have made several gaskets for my Morris Minor as spares are getting harder to find these days. It's just quicker to take the part off, scan it and then draw the shape in corel.


Hi Frank
Try this https://rsp-secure.com/rarespares/

Frank Corker
04-27-2008, 6:45 AM
Thanks David, but there are still quite a few Morris Minor places here in the UK.

John Glowaski
04-28-2008, 6:38 PM
I've made gaskets for lawnmowers, chain saws and my race car. I scan the part, trace it, then cut it on the laser.

I hooked up with a company last year and supply them with gaskets for their corn burning furnaces (the gaskets go on between 2 pieces of a gearbox used on the furnace for turning the corn). So far I have made over 10,000 gaskets for them. They originally told me, after I made them a dozen prototypes, that they planned on having these gaskets made in China. Well, that was a over a year ago, and I'm still getting orders from them.

Bill Cunningham
04-29-2008, 9:32 PM
I've made gaskets for lawnmowers, chain saws and my race car. I scan the part, trace it, then cut it on the laser.

I hooked up with a company last year and supply them with gaskets for their corn burning furnaces (the gaskets go on between 2 pieces of a gearbox used on the furnace for turning the corn). So far I have made over 10,000 gaskets for them. They originally told me, after I made them a dozen prototypes, that they planned on having these gaskets made in China. Well, that was a over a year ago, and I'm still getting orders from them.

If they use that many, and their not getting them from China after all, it means your price is too cheap, add 10% and see if they cough.. After all the oil companies have been using that tactic on the public for years :D Must be the only business in the world where your costs skyrocket and drag your profits up, and along for the ride :mad:

John Glowaski
04-30-2008, 9:20 PM
The funny part of the whole deal is that the furnaces are being assembled in China and they are shipping the my gaskets over there. So I must be underpriced! I smell a price increase in the air!

Keith Outten
04-30-2008, 11:00 PM
When I was turning wrenches for my Uncle Sam I made a lot of gaskets by placing the gasket material on the part and cutting the edges with a ball peen hammer. Crude but it works really well when miles of ocean are between you and your parts store :)

Not that I am suggesting this technique to those who own laser engravers but it works well enough to make a pattern you can scan, especially when the part is large or very complex.

.

Bill Cunningham
05-01-2008, 9:20 PM
Most of the modern mechanics now squeeze their gaskets from a tube!

Doug Griffith
05-02-2008, 9:59 AM
Most of the modern mechanics now squeeze their gaskets from a tube!

If only older engines were made with such precision.