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CNC Your Gaskets |
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I tried hand cutting my gaskets but the results were less than stellar.
Not just ugly but marginally functional.
CNC'ing them seemed the wise thing to do. On my little Sherline 2000 mill, I first mounted a piece of MDF to the mill.
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The reason for the MDF is that the gasket material is just held on with push pins. I can't think of any other time I would hold anything to the mill with push pins but it seemed appropriate and they work well. |
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I mill the gaskets with a 1/16" end mill running at about 3 inches
/ minute. Each cut is made in a single pass.
I keep an old 1 inch paintbrush by the mill to brush away swarf so I use the the handle to keep the paper down on the MDF; it tends to raise up a bit. Safer than fingers. |
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| In just a few minutes, the milling part of the job is done. A little fuzzy around the edges still. |
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| The gasket gets a very light sanding on some 220 grit sandpaper and it's ready to go. This one is for a double sized Moriya Stirling Fan. |
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| Fits like a glove |
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| Updated: December 10, 2012 |
Content and Design © David J Morrow 2012 |
