Make your own gaskets

[ward cleaver]

Does anyone make your own small gaskets by buying gasket material in sheets and using an exacto knife to cut out the required shape based on a tracing of the old gasket?

 

[Daviet]

Re: Make your own gaskets

I have done it in the past when I screwed up a gasket from a kit, although I believe most gaskets are available separately.

 

[retiredfornow]

Re: Make your own gaskets

...and use the proper size paper punch for the bolt holes. A leather punch with a rotary head offers different sizes.
Made one once from a pizza box, but we won't go there....

 

[boobie]

Re: Make your own gaskets

I've made a lot of my own gaskets. With the proper knief and a set of gasket hole punches you can make any gasket you want. Sears used to sell the hole punches with all different sizes.

 

[ward cleaver]

Re: Make your own gaskets

I was wondering what to use for the holes but never thought of a paper punch. Think I'll look into this at Sears or maybe the local auto parts store. I assume they will carry the gasket material.

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Make your own gaskets

Back in the day I've used many pieces of cardboard, pieces of inner tubes and about anything that resembled gasket material to make gaskets... did it for my 1st Mo-Ped. Works great when you're broke down in the middle of the lake and have to clean out a carb with nothing but a screw driver, straw and towel or toilet paper to work with... and a royal PITA with all the jet skis buzzing around.

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Make your own gaskets

I've made a lot of my own gaskets. With the proper knief and a set of gasket hole punches you can make any gasket you want. Sears used to sell the hole punches with all different sizes.

I have punched a lot of holes when I didn't have the right size punch by grinding a sharp edge on a short piece of small pipe or tubing of the size I needed. Paper punches, leather punches, punches for installing grommets in canvas. You would be surprised how many different size punches you can find in your shop at one in the morning when you have a job that has to be finished the next day.

 

[ward cleaver]

Re: Make your own gaskets

Back in the day --- like when mechanics actually fixed things instead of just replaced parts.

 

[boobie]

Re: Make your own gaskets

Amen Ward, Amen. Thank you.

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Make your own gaskets

Parts changers are EASY to find.... most of the back yard shade tree boat mechanics I know can't diagnose the difference between a skunked up carburetor and bad ignition. I'm self-taught.. and that's why I come to the forums for advice. The local "gurus" can't even turn on a computer.

 

[apollothesun]

Re: Make your own gaskets

on small gaskets no problem, but when it comes to bigger intricate ones, i opt out to order and save my time surfing iboats

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Make your own gaskets

I've made several of my own gaskets. It's very easy to do. Pretty much all auto parts stores sell gasket material in sheets. The main thing is that you use the correct material for each application. For instance, you don't want to try making a head gasket, from a cerial box. It won't hold up, but it'll work fine for a carb to intake gasket. Patience is the virtue. It's all the matter of matching the original, with an exacto knife and hole punch set. I usually trace from the original, to a piece of gasket material and cut it out.....carefully.

 

[mohead1]

Re: Make your own gaskets

Made gaskets all my life, since I first started tearing things apart.....I think it was SK or maybe Craftsman that has a set of interchangable hole punchs (one arbor, several head sizes) that I have and after cutting out the major portion, punch the appropriate holes using a piece of wood or I use an old plastic cutting board, and there you have it!!

 

[oop225]

Re: Make your own gaskets

I make gaskets using material from the auto parts stores. To punch holes, I use spent rifle cases from 22 to 30 caliber and a rubber mallet. Notice use spent cases

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Make your own gaskets

Instead of purchasing hole punches you can sandwich the gasket between two pieces of wood. You'll drill a small hole in the top piece of wood allowing you to look through and line up the gasket with the center of the hole's location. Set it in the drill press and go slow! My drill bit set is graduated in 64ths so I always have precisely the size I need. Alternatively use a piece of scrap plexiglass for the top of your gasket sandwich and you can see what you're doing without having to mark centers.

I've been doing this for years. Making gaskets for things like sending units in the top of fuel tanks and carb to intake gaskets is simple and easy! Just take your time and make sure your gasket paper is the correct thickness.

Oh, and if you screw up and tear something, drill off center, or make a nasty jagged corner START OVER!

halfmoa

 

[lexer440]

Re: Make your own gaskets

Lay your gasket material out on the surface your making it for and then tap gently around the edges with a small spanner, it cuts the holes very well too and the gasket is then the perfect size. I have done this many times for small things like water pumps.

 

[boat1010]

Re: Make your own gaskets

When I was in the Navy we would make our own gaskets with gasket material and a small ball ping hammer. Just place the material over what you were making the gasket for and tap around it lightly with the hammer. The rounded end would make the holes perfect.

 

[Gun Dog]

Re: Make your own gaskets

When I was in the Navy we would make our own gaskets with gasket material and a small ball ping hammer. Just place the material over what you were making the gasket for and tap around it lightly with the hammer. The rounded end would make the holes perfect.

Gasket making 101. The first thing any mechanics program teaches. More importantly than the process of making, is selecting the right gasket material for the application. Punch sets are cheap. Buy one you'll find many uses for it around the shop.

I like the spent case idea. I like to clamp them in a vise and discharge them with a center punch! Township says I can't discharge in a gun.

 

[nwcove]

Re: Make your own gaskets

I like the spent case idea. I like to clamp them in a vise and discharge them with a center punch! Township says I can't discharge in a gun.[/QUOTE]

spent shell casings work perfectly, not sure if id hit a 50 cal (1/2 inch hole) with a center punch to discharge tho!!! yikes! lol

 

[trymybest]

Re: Make your own gaskets

i have made a fair few gaskets since my teenage years on most engines except head gaskets ( always use new for heads).
i like the empty shell cases idea!
the perspex and sheet of wood & drill technique, a i recall learning off a wise master fixer of anything mechanical many years ago and is a very good tip
i think hands on heart,many of us has at some point made a gasket out of cereal cartons,shoe boxes etc for carb,engine casings and the like
one tip when making a gasket from card is to wipe a thin smear of grease on one of the mating surfaces and press the card gently down whilst keeping the card still and with a free hand,gently dab the card all the way aroung the surface of the joint.
pull up in one quick motion and there is your imprint of the exact gasket and holes to be cut out.
another tip when using homemade gaskets is to smear a thin film of grease on the gasket.
this serves to keep the gasket in position and when the joints are bolted together,allows any slight adjustment of the gasket to the bolt holes.
it is down to personal preferance on the grease as most new people will fit gaskets clean and dry.... i was taught 31 years ago by a sadly missed mechanic who was in his 50's and gave me the fix it attitude to most things.
not so far of the big 50 myself now
practice on card 1st as mistakes can be made and the genuine gasket grade papers are fairly expensive.well in the UK anyway.
good luck