Making your own rubber gasket from a thin sheet of rubber can be quite challenging. When the gasket you are looking for is no longer available, or you simply need to replace a damaged one and don't have the time to wait for it to arrive, or you just need to make it, in a pinch to get your system moving again. Here is how I do it, and what you need to do it. I recently made a small gasket for an older model fill valve from an old bike inner tube. Use whatever material you have that will do the job you want it to do.
Materials:
1. Original gasket as complete as possible. OR actual size image of the gasket/item.
2. Rubber sheet of required thickness.
3. Computer with Photoshop.
4. Printer/scanner.
5. Yellow full back glue post-it notes.
6. Sharp, pointed Exacto knife.
7. Small sharp scissors.
Procedure:
1. Scan item into Photoshop, save as j peg file.
2. Print one copy onto a standard white 8.5 x 11.0 sheet of paper.
3. Place item on top of printed paper image to verify size/shape is correct. Remove item.
4. Center post-it note on top of image making sure it sticks flat and even to paper sheet.
5. Place same sheet back into printer and print the same image again. This time it will print onto the post-it instead of the paper.
6. Remove post-it from sheet.
7. Clean rubber and stick post-it note wherever you want to make the gasket.(See NOTES.)
8. Using Exacto knife slowly and carefully push the sharp tip into rubber cutting small lines around each outline.
9. Remove note and using small sharp scissors connect and complete the cuts.
You've just made your first rubber gasket!
NOTES:
Make sure you orient the sheet correctly when you put it back into the printer to reprint on the post-it. Easiest way to make sure you do it correctly, is to put a pencil mark on one corner of the sheet before you print so you will know which way the sheet has to go back in, and which side goes up/down.
Pinning the post-it and through the rubber onto a piece of flat wood will make it easier to mark it out, and keep you from stretching it.
Hope it works for you. If you have a better way, let us all know!
Materials:
1. Original gasket as complete as possible. OR actual size image of the gasket/item.
2. Rubber sheet of required thickness.
3. Computer with Photoshop.
4. Printer/scanner.
5. Yellow full back glue post-it notes.
6. Sharp, pointed Exacto knife.
7. Small sharp scissors.
Procedure:
1. Scan item into Photoshop, save as j peg file.
2. Print one copy onto a standard white 8.5 x 11.0 sheet of paper.
3. Place item on top of printed paper image to verify size/shape is correct. Remove item.
4. Center post-it note on top of image making sure it sticks flat and even to paper sheet.
5. Place same sheet back into printer and print the same image again. This time it will print onto the post-it instead of the paper.
6. Remove post-it from sheet.
7. Clean rubber and stick post-it note wherever you want to make the gasket.(See NOTES.)
8. Using Exacto knife slowly and carefully push the sharp tip into rubber cutting small lines around each outline.
9. Remove note and using small sharp scissors connect and complete the cuts.
You've just made your first rubber gasket!
NOTES:
Make sure you orient the sheet correctly when you put it back into the printer to reprint on the post-it. Easiest way to make sure you do it correctly, is to put a pencil mark on one corner of the sheet before you print so you will know which way the sheet has to go back in, and which side goes up/down.
Pinning the post-it and through the rubber onto a piece of flat wood will make it easier to mark it out, and keep you from stretching it.
Hope it works for you. If you have a better way, let us all know!
