Cricut, Make your own Honda scooter gaskets

[noiseguy]

Guys,

OK. If there's one thing I hate seeing, it's scooters and motorcycles rocking RTV gaskets b/c the owner can't track paper gaskets down. Better shops can cut these to order, but then you have to find a better shop.

I've been looking at Cricuts. They sell these at craft stores, and even Wal-Mart now has them. They're meant for cutting out paper hearts and shtuff for scrap-booking. But I've researched them; the heavier blade available for these will cut up to .035" magnet material. So it should be able to cut .020"-.030" gasket material like butter:

http://www.cricut.com/
http://www.cricut.com/shop/#0/1/200/3/C ... %20Housing

As an input file, you'd need a vector-generated profile, which can be converted from a TIFF scan of an original gasket or part, or made from scratch in CAD software (what a pain that would be.) I don't know how well the Cricut will be able to handle the precise scaling required, but I think you should be able to hack into this with the right software.

I think if we have some complete gasket kits around, we can scan them and make them available for download. I'll host the vector files here. Then anyone with a GF / SO that has a Cricut can make their own gaskets. Or someone entrepreneurial can buy a machine and make them for us

Anyone know somebody with one of these machines that can take a hack at it?

[Fishman43]

Mi esposa was looking into one of these machanical scrap booking wonders last year during the black Friday lunacy at Wally World. Even then, on trample the security gaurd sale morning, one of these fancy dancy cutters cost a few hundred dollars (more than 2 out of three of my scoots)... but if I could re-purpose it... maybe it will show up with a bow on it for her upcoming anuall increase in years.

[Artric]

My good friend who owns a Ruckus has one and is a pro. She learned how to make her own files as well.

Where do you buy blank gasket material and how much? I bet I could get her to help out and make some.

[noiseguy]

Most auto parts stores sell uncut gasket material (O'Reilly's is one.) It comes in a roll in varying widths. For scooters and motorcycles, narrow is fine.

All the fiber Honda scooter gaskets I've used have been ~.020" thickness. Most of the autoparts stuff is ~.030" (~1/32"). For some things it doesn't matter (intake gaskets, case side covers) for others it does (base gaskets, gasket for case halves) so at some point you'd might want to find a source for the thinner material. In bulk, I'm sure it's available somewhere. And the thicker stuff seems to crush down more; the thinner Honda gaskets seem pre-crushed for some reason... probably in manufacture.

The rolled material can be hard to work with after it's taken a set in it's rolled shape. The trick is to take a clothes iron to it, in steam setting, and iron it out flat. Ideally, for the Cricut, you'd want the gasket material in flat form and cut to a standard shape for the gasket blank. But you could just hand make the blanks with scissors or a paper guillotine (most librarys have them.)

Here's some guys talking about gaskets on an obsolete motors forum. I've thought of making gaskets from cereal boxes before but never tried running one... I guess these guys have.

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7877

[fightingplankton]

schucks(o'reillys) will have blank gasket material. it comes is sheets or rolls

[Clivester]

I have access to a Cricut.

I think the idea for a scanned gasket repository is excellent.

But Alas! this brings back memories of when I tried to solicit scans of gaskets http://www.hondaspree.net/phpBB3/viewto ... lit=gasket but never got any takers.

Come on guys - I'll make the first contribution to get the ball rolling!

88 SA50P Cylinder Base Gaske.ai.zip

(2.9 KiB) Downloaded 158 times

[noiseguy]

If someone can get me either A) the actual gaskets or B) the scans as bitmaps with reference dimensions (scan on gridpaper should work), I'll work to get them converted to vector files. PM me before you start scanning; I want to make sure we have all the info we need on the scans before we start.

-------------------------------

I've got a near complete set of Honda Spree gaskets, from a Honda engine gasket kit, that I can scan when I get my stuff out of storage. But that will be a few months.

A request for scans is a start, but there is more to it than that. The scans have to contain the critical dimensions.

We'll need to develop a file standard. I have no idea what the file standard for Cricuts should be.

Is an .ai file the right format? I know it has the path; does it also contain the critical dimensions? I'm more familiar with .EPS files.

I'd like to have a format that would work for both Cricut (or like device) and can just be printed. That way, someone without the device could print the gasket out and then cut it from the template.

If no one has these gaskets around to lend, another option is that we take a vote on what engine to cover first, and a monetary collection, and I'll buy the gasket kit and scan them for our use. We can then sell the gasket kit we scan on Ebay, take the money from that and buy the next set. Bootstrapping

[Clivester]

Is an .ai file the right format? I know it has the path; does it also contain the critical dimensions? I'm more familiar with .EPS files.

The last I heard about the Cricut was that the software that comes with it is very limited and uses a proprietary file format. Most people who want to cut their own shapes buy a 3rd party software called SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot). SCAL accepts .svg files.

The file I posted is an Adobe Illustrator format since its vector based and can be edited a little easier than svg. Illustrator exports to svg.

Scanned images (like a jpeg) can be opened and traced in in a program called Inkscape then saved as .svg

For now I would suggest that the format for scanned images should be jpg or tif and that items should be scanned with a reference scale next to them to ensure correct sizing.

Vector images should be saved as svg format.

[noiseguy]

Hmm. Maybe I'm overthinking this. If we saved to JPG we could set the size to print out to correct scale at 150 or 300 DPI. Each gasket would have a 1" x 1" scale box by it (or in it) to gauge scale, square, and proportion. Maybe a second in 20x20mm for rest of world. These prints will be black and white or greyscale.

I was thinking of holding the files in EPS, but that's really not that friendly of a format. Requires Ghostview or a postscript device to print. Upside is that they'd print to scale every time if you had a laser printer handy.

We can convert the files to vector from JPGs or the original BMP scans. None of the gaskets are that intricate; I don't think 150 vs 300 DPI will make a difference on the conversion. And there's really no reason to convert at all until someone actually takes on the Cricut project. It could be attacked as a separate project.

I noted that the standard Cricut software looked like amateur stuff. Main thing was that scaling looked like it was done visually, not to any actual size. The Cricut software will need to be able to control to around +/-0.01" or so in order to be accurate enough to make a decent gasket.

[bradthreee]

I have a copy of an OEM Spree base gasket...

LMK,

Brad

[noiseguy]

I have a copy of an OEM Spree base gasket...

Physical copy or a scan? If it's a scan, email it to me. Otherwise PM me and we'll make arrangements.

I'm thinking manifold, cylinder base, and transmission gaskets are probably the most often replaced. If we had those for the Spree and Elites, we'd be in pretty good shape. Sidecover is one that's often missing, but you'd need legal or ledger paper to print it.

Head gasket's common too, but most guys don't make their own.

Cricut's aren't the most open system. I'm wondering if a CraftRobo would be better. Seems to have a more serious interface.

[bradthreee]

I made a copy of it on my home printer but I think I might be able to scan it onto the computer. I've never used the scanner before but it doesnt seem like rocket science...

LMK,

Brad

[noiseguy]

Try scanning it; if that doesn't work you can just mail me a photocopy of the thing and I'll scan it here.

[Clivester]

Here's the svg vector file of the '88 SA50 cylinder base gasket and the same converted to jpeg in all its glory!

88 SA50P Cylinder Base Gask.jpg (52.13 KiB) Viewed 6160 times

88 SA50P Cylinder Base Gask.svg.zip

(4.77 KiB) Downloaded 176 times