Cogsy
Well-Known Member
I copied this idea from a post by Michael-au in his Peewee V4 thread and decided to give it a go. Very pleased with the results and it's super easy (if you have access to a 3D printer).
First up, I modelled the underside of my cylinder head in a free online CAD program, then printed 2 copies.
Then I punched a 1/8" hole in a piece of 0.3mm Teflon sheet (cheap off ebay) and bolted it between the 2 printed templates. The second hole was punched once the Teflon was between the templates so it would be in the right spot. You can see another set of templates for the other head in the background.
Then it was a simple matter of trimming the edges, cutting the big holes and punching the small ones. For the 'punch' I used a piece of appropriately sized rod, drilled a hole into the end to leave a very thin wall, then gave it a gentle file to sharpen the edge a bit. It worked ok but tended to leave the holes a little ragged as they were punched unsupported. Next time I'll reduced the diameter of the very end of the punch so it accurately locates the hole but leaves it undersize, then enlarge it after removing from the template. Or I guess I could make the 'bottom' template with just shallow depressions instead of through holes for all but the two holes to bolt them together. That would give support but would mean modelling 2 different pieces per gasket. I guess I could even have used a drill instead of the punch which may have worked (although the wife frowns at power tool use inside the house and I made my gaskets on my coffee table in the lounge where my 3D printer currently lives).
Here is the roughly finished gasket.
And finally with it sitting against the head it suits. Not bad for a first attempt and will definitely do the job.
I recommend it as an option to consider for gasket making, especially for the small, difficult to cut gaskets like those for carbies, manifolds, etc.
First up, I modelled the underside of my cylinder head in a free online CAD program, then printed 2 copies.
Then I punched a 1/8" hole in a piece of 0.3mm Teflon sheet (cheap off ebay) and bolted it between the 2 printed templates. The second hole was punched once the Teflon was between the templates so it would be in the right spot. You can see another set of templates for the other head in the background.
Then it was a simple matter of trimming the edges, cutting the big holes and punching the small ones. For the 'punch' I used a piece of appropriately sized rod, drilled a hole into the end to leave a very thin wall, then gave it a gentle file to sharpen the edge a bit. It worked ok but tended to leave the holes a little ragged as they were punched unsupported. Next time I'll reduced the diameter of the very end of the punch so it accurately locates the hole but leaves it undersize, then enlarge it after removing from the template. Or I guess I could make the 'bottom' template with just shallow depressions instead of through holes for all but the two holes to bolt them together. That would give support but would mean modelling 2 different pieces per gasket. I guess I could even have used a drill instead of the punch which may have worked (although the wife frowns at power tool use inside the house and I made my gaskets on my coffee table in the lounge where my 3D printer currently lives).
Here is the roughly finished gasket.
And finally with it sitting against the head it suits. Not bad for a first attempt and will definitely do the job.
I recommend it as an option to consider for gasket making, especially for the small, difficult to cut gaskets like those for carbies, manifolds, etc.
