Many years ago, one of the best deals I ever passed on was for a die cutting machine with a binder of CD-ROMS with templates for every gasket, ever (automotive, bike, boat, 4-wheeler, power equipment, etc) on them. I had a flight of fancy that all I'd need is gasket paper and replacement blades, and I could print out gasket kits on-demand and sell them via an eBay store. Thankfully, I did not do this. I was going through a divorce at the time, and didn't have the time or energy. I needed a gasket the other day though, and noticing we have a Cricut Explore we just made screen printing stencils out of, my thoughts went back to that gasket making machine. Making gaskets would be as simple as putting your old gasket in a flatbed scanner (like for pictures), tracing it in their software, and "printing" it via the Cricut onto gasket paper (it'll even cut leather). I was just wondering if anybody here has ever done it. For folks that don't know what I'm talking about, they're these machines (see pic) that lots of folks buy at the craft stores to cut out cute stickers and stuff for scrapbooking, etc. You can even get heavier-duty blades, and adjust the tension for thick cuts. You can even swap out the blade for a marker and it'll draw the outlines instead of cut them. It's not as high-tech as 3-D Printing, and seems like it would be easy to do. Has anyone on here done this?
If one involved the crafty one in their house in making these, they'd probably be down with it... especially if it meant getting a new die-cutter someday, LOL!
I figured if somebody had a crafty person around, why not give 'em a shot? Sure beats poofing back up the old gasket in a sink of hot water for reuse after drying. ~Jason
No but I have used a laser cutter countless times... You probably need to check the file format that thing needs... a good machine will use a file extension .igs or iges this file is a universal file used in 99% of all 2 dimensional machining and cutting including wire edm , water cutting, laser, and 2 d machining operations. The line will need to be continuous with no breaks , be smooth and chain..My point is if this machine requires a special file format be cautious of purchasing because if the machine breaks your file is no good to almost anyone that does not use that machine....If I were anyone in this forum thinking of using an automated process to 2d cut anything it would be a laser machine...just my 2 cents from 30 years of die making and machine process engineering...
My Wife has 4 of those machines, and she has made me all kinds of stuff (Hot Rod T-shirts (Crower,etc.)-she has a Heat Press), she's made me stickers, signs (and a lot more), but I've never thought of Gaskets-you can do it on the newer Cricuts, as all you have to load is a .gif File-
I've seen (God knows where, now) a cache of gasket scans for free for anybody to use on a Triumph forum. I always thought it would be cool if one of those existed out there for Stromberg carbs, or for like water pumps or valve covers or something (these will cut stuff out up to 2 feet long, I think). It sure would be nice to have a place to go to grab stuff like that for emergency gasket use, on-the-fly (like, at 2:00 AM on a Sunday). ~Jason
.gif is a DPI typ file....it is not common for 2 d cutting process... but hey if the ting works .... go for it but your work will not be able to be done on anything but that type of machine and if you have another handy great.
I think you could get the pattern but will it be able to cut the thicker and heavier material? I have only experienced thin vinyl or iron on of a similar thickness. I do not know if it would be similar to cutting that thin foam type material but I do not have experience with that either. Interesting idea and food for thought for sure. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My laser engraver has plenty of power (80W) and uses CorelDraw for the input files - they can easily be exported as DXF files that work on almost anything else - and yes, many a Sunday night gasket emergency got handled that way.
Cool, but its not that hard to make a gasket. I just lay them on the surface I want to make a gasket for, tap around the holes and general shape with a small ball peen hammer, it makes lines on the gasket material, then you cut it out with an x-acto knife. Seems like a solution in search of a problem?
@35WINDOW is your wife happy with her Cricut machine? Would she recommend it to a beginner? Sorry for being off topic... I'm looking for a good electric cutter machine. There are so many on the market that it's hard to choose. This is why I'm on the fence. And I'm looking for some advice. How good is the Cricut is it better than the Cameo? I've been searching the net but besides hype and trash I didn't find a good enough review. Just the other day I've found this comparison. Boy I was surprised by it. Have you seen a hatchet job? Are the claims true? Does Cricut have a horrible tech support and the if you have no internet it's useless? Any tips will highly appreciated.
I imagine you could do that if you can create an accurate enough image in the software. They now have blades that cut thru heavier materials such as card stock, cloth etc. With some research you could find out which one to use along pressures and speeds to use. You may need to take into consideration how intricate your pattern is as well to avoid any tears (although I have seen some pretty tight cuts). Keep us posted. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I have a cameo silhouette and I love it! The primary reason I chose the Silhouette vs. the Cricut is that I wanted versatility in design. I didn't like how you got to buy the Cricut cartridges. If you know your way around computers and don't mind learning new apps, the silhouette is lovely. Designing can take a lot of time, but without having to buy anything, I love that I can trace virtually any picture to create my own designs. You can find a lot of blog comparisons for the pros and cons of cricut alternative software. Do a Google search. If you don't want a fully fledged computer, there are various models as well. Instead of 12x12, I believe the silhouette has a portrait version for 8.5x11 measurements.
Apple to oranges but I was needing some weird collector gaskets from the stainless between two layers of asbestos like material. None of my shears were of a quality to make a smooth cut so sanded off a place on the stainless to clamp the ground cable to and cut them with my plasma cutter. Worked great with zero burning of the non-stainless material.
You're supposed to buy your own gasket. They only supply you with the gasket from header to overpipe and the associated nuts and bolts
The Cricut Maker runs svg files, we have to convert jpeg or anything else to the vector type file for it to work. I haven’t tried gaskets yet but I’m sure it will work.
I need to go look at myself in the mirror. Reading this thread is making me feel like a neanderthal and I want to see what I look like now.
The Jalopy Journal
