# ''O'' CorkSheet Gasket Cutting



## gus (Dec 23, 2014)

The Sea Water Strainer for the genset on my boat require a gasket replacement. Cork Sheet gasket is very hard to cut perfectly/neatly w/o gasket cutters. Gus is no good using scissors to cut same. A Japanese Circular Cutter cost me $40.00.
I was surprised a cheapy $8 set M.I.C. Hole Saws did it but required some touch up with sand paper.
Fotos show hand cut piece and hole saw cut piece.

Still dreaming about the YouTube Circular Gasket Cutter.Will  DIY one set tomorrow. I am open to your expert advice.


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## cwelkie (Dec 23, 2014)

Thanks for testing it out and sharing the results Gus!
Now I just have to remember the technique when I need it ...
Cheers
Charlie


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## Ken I (Dec 23, 2014)

Gus,
      Here's a cheap tool I found.






Available as a trepanning as well as a "knife" tool - set the knife with a vernier and it makes clean cuts of most gasket materials. It also comes with two knives (the outer cuts a little shallower to break through second) on opposite ides to cut rings in one go.

Clean & accurate (use a bit of scrap wood or MDF as a backing) - works great on all gasket materials except Klinkerite / metallic interleaved

I have managed to cut rings 3mm wide from 3mm cork.

Regards,

Ken


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## gus (Dec 24, 2014)

Hi Ken
I have one too but couldn't find it. Bet you, after everything is done ,it will appear from somewhere.:wall: Your gaskets looks better than mine.


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## gus (Dec 24, 2014)

Using hole saws to cut the I.D. and O.D. was easily and quickly done but some sanding required.

Took half a day to DIY my own fly-cutter. Best not use the drill press to fly-cut. The Flycutter looks very dangerous. By manual cutting with both hands,one hand feeding through quill lever and the other handing hold drill chuck and turn by hand. I did get clean cut and gasket fit into cover easily w/o sanding to fit. With two hand operation,there is no chance of cutter chopping up my hands and fingers.

Will replace Sea-Water Strainer Cover tomorrow. Failure to do so would mean sinking my Albin-28.


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## goldstar31 (Dec 24, 2014)

Apologies Gus for a delay in commenting. Actually, I have been engaged in stuff which has a lot of cork. My wife has had a room full of  her and my daughter's clarinets out and these have tenons coverd with sheet cork rather than this horrid granulated chewed up stuff. 

I'm surprised somewhat because your old firm, Metal Box had a huge business in cork and plastic seals or wads. So with a bit of experience with Armstrong Cork myself, I would have said use a knife rather than a saw. Given the simple gasket that needed replacing, I would have cut around a former with a cheap modelling knife rather than knawing it with a hole cutter. 

Actually, peeling veneers - and that includes the cork oak involves high speeds and razor sharp knives.

We used to do a lot of rubber grinding- way back. Incidentally, it's fun miking rubber!

An after thought- have you checked your glue for possible breakup of granulated cork in salt water?

Regards

Norman


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## gus (Dec 24, 2014)

Gasket Cork Sheet seems to stand well with sea water.
The hole saws did a bad job and I had to clean up. The Hole Saw Diameters were a wee bitty too small or big and had to compromise. Took a lot of effort to sand and fit in. With the new fly-cutter & razor sharp knives,the OD and ID was spot on.

It's 6.45 pm. And mid night Mass is around the corner. Will pray for Norman's and wife's good health.no 
Merry Christmas. Our Grandchildren are all in Melbourne and so chance to spoil them here with Christmas gifts but Nellie is bringing in a pile for them when she leaves on the 28 Jan. FaceBook was very handy and we see see fotos and videos of grandchildren.Just imagine live video calls too and that was not even thought of prewar and just after the war.
Take Care. Young man.


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## goldstar31 (Dec 24, 2014)

Thank you for the kind thoughts and prayers. Again, our best wishes and prayers.

2015, I hope will bring great joy to you and yours.

Norman and Christine


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## gus (Dec 24, 2014)

Ran short of cork sheet. Bought some and its better quality and cost Gus a bomb S$10 for a 12'' x 36'' x 1/8'' t.
Fine tuned the cutter. Used a piece of hard wood and drilled a 8mm pilot hole to hold pilot pin during the cut to prevent run out and hold concentricity
Here's the results. Very happy with all 4 pcs. Sloppy fit done a away. Cutting done manually on work bench.
Gasket with clean cut and rework/sanding/touch up not required. Nice Christmas gift for Gus--------4 good Cork-Sheet gaskets.


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## goldstar31 (Dec 25, 2014)

That's the way to do it!

Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar. 

I'm rather envious. Last time I was in a small-ish boat was a grand  Chinese lunch affair in HongKong with the Far East Boss of a rather large banking firm.  
I can recall the going out to lunch, a large cool box of drinks to start on, coming back was rather less clear.:hDe:

Norman


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## gus (Dec 25, 2014)

goldstar31 said:


> That's the way to do it!
> 
> Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar.
> 
> ...


 We have strict drink/drive laws. Penalty is driving license suspended for 24 months and jail for 30 days.  Thats not all. You have start all over again as a new driver learning to drive,plus the High Way Code which has so many new add ons. As for boating accidents w/o serious/ fatal injuries, a mate can stand in for you. He may lose his boat driving license for good.
A mate of mine rammed into some sheet piles and the repairs ran into tens of thousands. We warned him many times not to drink while helming.

Take care.


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## gus (Dec 25, 2014)

Its Christmas Day and I am not in the drinking circuit so no merry making. Bit bored. So I practiced cutting some good looking gasket before same skill gets rusty or forgotten.
Don't really need 8 spare gaskets to standby.


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## Ken I (Dec 25, 2014)

Gus,
       How many gaskets do you need ?




Go out and catch something - mine's bigger than yours.
Merry Xmas.

Regards,
            Ken


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## gus (Dec 27, 2014)

Ken I said:


> Gus,
> How many gaskets do you need ?
> 
> 
> ...



Two pcs to backup will last years but at my age looking for them on the boat will be tough.

Here in Singapore waters, we have no Tunas. Going to Burma Banks March 2015 but the biggest we landed was 30 kg. The 50 kgs are three days away from home port. Will report after March trip. Meanwhile Gus has to content with 8 kg SeaBass or 20kg Rays.


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## gus (Dec 27, 2014)

One size gasket did not fit all two sea water strainers. Will have to stretch rotary gasket cutter to cut bigger gasket for the main engine sea water strainer. Not a problem. I have the material and vision to make bigger OD Gasket.
Will be done tomorrow.
Foto shows the big and small strainers.


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## RonGinger (Dec 27, 2014)

Only a model engineer would spend all that time to make a tool to use to make parts that would cost about $1 to buy, then make a lifetime supply of the parts.

Nice going Gus. I am somewhat surprised to hear you have an Albin 28. That is a US boat and I did not realize they sold them out of the US. I owned an Albin 27 and had the identical sea water strainer. That was the only boat I ever had and sold that I later wished I had it back. It was a great boat and I did a long cruise- over 2000 miles- on it. I am not a fisherman, but I like to see your photos and hear of your fishing trips.


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## gus (Dec 28, 2014)

RonGinger said:


> Only a model engineer would spend all that time to make a tool to use to make parts that would cost about $1 to buy, then make a lifetime supply of the parts.
> 
> Nice going Gus. I am somewhat surprised to hear you have an Albin 28. That is a US boat and I did not realize they sold them out of the US. I owned an Albin 27 and had the identical sea water strainer. That was the only boat I ever had and sold that I later wished I had it back. It was a great boat and I did a long cruise- over 2000 miles- on it. I am not a fisherman, but I like to see your photos and hear of your fishing trips.




Hi Ron,
One size gasket did not fit both strainers.Had to make a new cutter. Looks like the first cutter was overdesigned and the last cutter the simplest. New cutter cuts the same way as the first cutter.

The Narrow Straits of Singapore used to have plenty of small/medium/big fish when I was a young man. With the pollution from palm oil refineries,fish became bit scarce but we still bring up good fish to feed ourselves from secret structures. My fishy mates were told to hold landing fish when strange boats come snooping and stealing spot. We don't mine passing some good spots to friendly boats but there is a danger of them cleaning out every fish every weekend. Take one or two at most and move on best to conserve. These guys are not conservation type but  depletive.


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## kiwi2 (Dec 29, 2014)

Why not try fixing a scalpel blade to an old compass or pair of dividers from your obsolete tech drawing tools? It would pay to add a bit of soapy water to lubricate the blade. 
Regards,
Alan C.


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## goldstar31 (Dec 29, 2014)

Cheap drawing sets and modelling knives go for a £1 a set in the UK but frankly I'd did say that I was involved with clarinets and earlier with making Northumbrian small pipes as well as professionally much earlier. 

I'd make metal or wood templates and use a hot glue gun to avoid ragging the miserable granulated cork which you have.  I've just had a look at what is left of my wife's repair kit amongst all the orthodontic tools etc and found ONE safety razor and some animal glue as a left over from my exploits.

I think that my last exploit was buying a Albert system clarinet in a junk shop for all of £6 for her- as a joke.  I got it home, cleaned it, she put a reed on and blew it. ALL the pads flew off and I was left with recorking the joints and glueing in new pads and a spring( ex sewing needle) before that I re-built the Evinrude outboard motor for the Avon Redshank with new gaskets in the back of my villa in Menorca- with the kitchen scissors and a ball pein hammer! 

Often the crude tools work best!
Have fun

Norman


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## mcostello (Dec 30, 2014)

Here is a gasket cutter I made years ago from a utility knife blade.The first picture shows the position used to cut hose or tubing. The cover is drilled symmetrically and can be rotated 180 degrees to a turning position.The second picture shows the blade in the storage position. To use the cover is loosened and the blade slid forward. The top of the blade is machined on center, the blade can be easily sharpened. Now It helps to MIC the gasket material to know how deep to go, I use a sacrificial aluminum face plate with double sided tape. a caution, if You have ever bumped Your self on a tool left in a tool holder, You will remember the cut for a long time, this kind of cut will be MUCH deeper. I put the tool to use then immediately remove it from the lathe.


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## gus (Dec 31, 2014)

Hi MCostello,

I did the first gasket cutting using the drill press at 100 rpm but when I saw the craft knife rotating and cutting the gasket in 1 sec,it dawned on me,if my fingers/hands gets in its path,I die less some fingers and maybe hand to.
Very quickly,I changed mode to manual. After ten gaskets,not finger or hand injury. These ''Xacto'' knives are razor sharp and deadly. Going up my ''Albin 28'' to put back the Seawater Strainer Cover and Gasket.

Happy New Year.


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