fabricating gaskets

Belgian1979vette

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Apr 4, 2008
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Koersel/Belgium
I'm trying to fabricate gaskets out of graphite/stainless steel reïnforced sheet. I'm having difficulty making the bolt holes trough it. Any suggestions ?
 
Buy a set of brand new super sharp hole punches. In Dutch/Belgistaans it's called "Doorslagen" :) I use that all the time, one big whack with a hammer on some hard wood and you'll have a clean hole.
 
I have done this by sharpening the end of a steel tube and punching the hole (as Marck suggests) backed up with HDF (Masonite). I have also used a sperpened steel tube in a drill to cut through.
 
I think i'm going with making the tools myself. I checked out some tools in the shops, but oh boy, when you need to punch through stainless they get very expensive.
 
How thick is the stainless? My only other suggestion would be to sandwich it between two pieces of aluminum and drill it (slowly). The only other suggestion would be laser of water jet cutting.
 
Well the intire gasket is 1,5 mm thick and the stainless layer is sandwhiched in between the graphite. I would estimate that maybe it is about half a millimeter thich at most,but boy is that sucker hard. I had a punch here that is used with cloth and rubber and such and only the smaller diameter go through it.

Seems like i will have to buy one of those hole punches and drill the center bolt.

BTW, when drilling the edge is completly cut up...
 
Maybe this is grabbing for straws, but when I needed to go through stainless I had a similar problem. I ended up using a ball stone to wear through first, then continued until enlarged to the desired diameter. This is time consuming, so if you have many holes to make, pack a lunch. You might try a diamond impregnated ball, they seem to cut well. The good news is, this technique will not distort the flat surface, as long as you don't apply excessive pressure. Place a sturdy piece of wood under the material you are working on. When I tried drilling stainless, I got too aggressive with pressure and dimpled the surface. This is an inexpensive option with stones available at HF.
 
use a brad point or step drill for thin metal

You will better luck making a round hole in thin sheets if you use either a brad point grind or a step drill.

Grampy
 

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