Gasket Material

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Emfinger
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Gasket Material

Post by Emfinger »

Hello, what is a good gasket material for the steam chest?
Bob D.
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by Bob D. »

A dollar bill, linen works well. Any kind of paper works ok, brown paper bag etc. Rub some steam oil into the gasket. No need for sealer of any kind,
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Emfinger
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by Emfinger »

Bob D. wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 11:35 am A dollar bill, linen works well. Any kind of paper works ok, brown paper bag etc. Rub some steam oil into the gasket. No need for sealer of any kind,
brown paper bag sounds good, thank you.
Tom
RET
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by RET »

Hi,

If you get the surfaces truly flat, you don't need anything at all, just metal to metal.

Getting the parts flat is easy if you have a surface plate. If you don't happen to have one, window glass works almost as well (these days even window glass is mostly made by the Float process). Get some 400 grit (or finer) polishing paper and lay the whole sheet on the surface plate or glass (make sure everything is clean first), then lay the part on the sheet and hold the sheet so it can't move. Rub the part over the whole sheet in a random pattern with even pressure, slowly rotating the part as you go. In most cases the weight of the part will be sufficient.

Note: Make sure you use polishing paper not cloth, cloth is too thick to conform well enough to the surface plate.
Remove the part and clean it once in a while; you will see the surface become smooth and shiny. Quit when that finish is everywhere on the part.

It really doesn't take that long and is easy to do. If the part isn't close to being flat to start with, machine the surface until it is close.

That's the process I used on the cross compound air pump that I'm working on after I faced off the top and bottom surfaces of the bronze air side casting. It bolts together with no leaks.

Richard Trounce.
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by Greg_Lewis »

I use gasket paper. Check your local auto parts store. Comes in various thicknesses, I have several on hand.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
jeanluc83
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by jeanluc83 »

I just made up a set of gaskets for my Clishay using my wife's Cricut. It worked great. It is definitely faster than cutting them by hand and replacement set only takes about a minute to make.

I used the paper from a brown paper bag for the first round. I haven't used them yet so I'm not sure how well they are going to work.

Clishay gaskets
Clishay gaskets
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Bill Shields
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by Bill Shields »

Will be fine. Suggest some oil to allow to 'find itself' as being squashed.

Heard a lot about Cricut units .. happy with it?
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Steamer Al
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by Steamer Al »

jeanluc83 wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 6:21 pm I just made up a set of gaskets for my Clishay using my wife's Cricut. It worked great. It is definitely faster than cutting them by hand and replacement set only takes about a minute to make.

I used the paper from a brown paper bag for the first round. I haven't used them yet so I'm not sure how well they are going to work.


IMG_20210425_101720475_resize_22.jpg
I've got a Silhouette machine, same idea as the Cricut. Ive thought about making gaskets with it, but couldn't figure out how to get accurate dimensions... then again I' not very computer literate. Do you draw your gaskets up in the program provided with Cricut or import from a CAD program?

@Bill I find my vinyl cutter really handy. I lettered my instrument panel in my airplane with it as well as the large registration letters on the side, among other things. As far as model work goes, as mentioned here gaskets would be a great use, and paint stensils. Ive definatley got my moneys worth.

Alex
jeanluc83
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by jeanluc83 »

This was my first use of the Cricut but I was pretty happy with it. My wife uses it a lot for T-shirts and that sort of thing and she has been very happy with the results. I plan on using it for the lettering on my Clishay when I get to that point. I’ll either cut it in vinyl or use it to make a stencil.

The Cricut Design Space program was the weak point at least for what I wanted to do. It is not a CAD program so the things that are really easy to do in CAD are fairly cumbersome to do in the design space.

I ended up drawing the gaskets in another program then importing them to Cricut Design Space. When imported each shape came in separate but it was the correct size and on location. I was able to then merge or cut the features to make the single piece that I wanted.

Once I figured out the process it wasn’t too bad but took a bit of tinkering to get there. If there is interest I can put a tutorial together of what I did.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by Bill Shields »

Cuts with a sharp knife....I presume$
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Wolfgang
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by Wolfgang »

I agree with RET; if you can lap the mating surfaces, no gasket is required. Any oil film will seal any remaining seeps. Steam turbine casing mating surfaces are scraped only to seal them.

I have a hard time understanding this preoccupation with gaskets in this century. Just because granddad did it this way does not mean we have to follow that ancient practice.

As-machined surfaces can be made helium-tight (I have done this on a helium pressurized Stirling engine) by applying a very thin smear of sealant. For steam engines use automotive RTV sealant. Makes a perfect seal and is easily removed when necessary.
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milwiron
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Re: Gasket Material

Post by milwiron »

Old thread and the OP seems to have left the building but some folks might find this useful. Here's a couple of gaskets for Fitch/Chloe cylinders cut on my wife's Cricut Maker vinyl cutter. I used Cricut's Design Space program to draw the gaskets, it's simple but has a learning curve if your more familiar with normal CAD programs. Design Space can also import .svg files which a lot of CAD programs can export.
The gasket material is .010" light card stock. Tougher or lighter materials aren't a problem and really tough stuff can be cut with multiple passes.

Total time beginning to end was maybe 30 minutes, not any faster than cutting by hand but the designs are there any time I need 'em. I can make spares in a minute and when I lose those I can make more.

And of course the Cricut can make awesome lettering. Their permanent vinyl weathers well when properly applied. I cut a "stick person" bagpiper for the back window of my truck and after 3 years in the sun and rain shows no signs of degradation.
Gaskets.jpg
Denny
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