Gasket making tip, need eye protection!

[Normspeed]

Needed a fresh transmission to bellhousing gasket and was lucky because I had the old one still in one piece. I got some fiber gasket material and made a fresh one. Here's my E-Z method.

First lay old gasket over new material and shoot with flat black paint. Easier than tracing.

Then, cut out only the outer shape, leave the center intact for now.

PUT ON YOUR EYE PROTECTION, line the new gasket up on the trans case, put the round end of a ballpeen hammer over a bolt hole and tap with another hammer. This punches out the gasket hole.

Slip a bolt through that one to anchor it and proceed to ballpeen the rest of the holes.

When done, cut out the keyhole in the center with a scissors and you have a nice fresh gasket! I've made other gaskets, like thermostat housing gaskets, the same way.

You really need eye protection because hitting a hardened steel hammer with another hardened hammer can cause nasty shards of steel to fly off, or so I've been told.

[RobertKB]

Mythbusters proved the hammer thing with bits flying off was not true. Could not even do it with older hammers from WWII vintage. Even though I saw their show, I would still wear safety glasses.

[Normspeed]

That's good news Robert. I'd heard some awful tales of guys going to the emergency room with hammer shards imbedded in various places.

[Uncle-Pekka]

I did got a tiny piece of steel shot into my eye ca. 30 yrs ago. Not from a hammer though but from cutting metal. Ever since I have worn safety goggles for even small jobs. Fortunately the particle was very small chip and did not went too deep, thus it did not harm sight in the end of the day. However, I won't forget the pain when the doctor dug it off...

What I want to say is the warning is reasonable and should be appreciated. Thanks for the useful tip for making the gasket! Good clear pictures.

[Don Coatney]

My dad taught me almost the same method. However he did not use two hammers. Just use the single ball pien and tap lightly around the edge of the hole until the gasket is cut. I have made several gaskets this way. You can also cut the center hole this way.

[bmt47p-15]

My dad taught me almost the same method. However he did not use two hammers. Just use the single ball pien and tap lightly around the edge of the hole until the gasket is cut. I have made several gaskets this way. You can also cut the center hole this way.

My dad also taught me the fine art of hammering gaskets out the very same way. I have used everything from manila folders to Captain Crunch cereal boxes to make gaskets.

[Don Coatney]

My dad also taught me the fine art of hammering gaskets out the very same way. I have used everything from manila folders to Captain Crunch cereal boxes to make gaskets.

I have used grocery bags in the day before plastic.

[greg g]

Hey Guys, Shop 101!!!! Never hit a hardened steel hammer with another hardened steel hammer. Even with safety glasses, this is a bad idea. Use a brass hammer, a dead blow plastic thing. or some other type of deformable face whacking device. Even a light tap just right can cause the heads to shatter, and you do not want to be in the flack zone.

[Tim Frank]

1) Using eye protection is never a bad idea! ....~but~

2) I have used this technique many times but can't remember using enough ooooomph on the hammer that I could have shattered the head. If you are hitting it that hard, you would be likely to damage the lead threads; or are those through-holes?

[Brad Lustig]

Hey Guys, Shop 101!!!! Never hit a hardened steel hammer with another hardened steel hammer. Even with safety glasses, this is a bad idea. Use a brass hammer, a dead blow plastic thing. or some other type of deformable face whacking device. Even a light tap just right can cause the heads to shatter, and you do not want to be in the flack zone.

Greg, Robert mentioned that Myth Busters did a show on this "proving" that this was false. I don't really buy it myself since they did a very limited study with only a few hammers. They did get an older hammer to split a little bit but not shatter. I think if they'd done the tests with a wider variety they may have had one shatter or at least get a good split.

[Young Ed]

I would think older hammers would be well made and less likely to shatter. You need some cheap ones made with low grade steel. Seems to me those would be more likely to shatter.

[Don Coatney]

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode67

If two hammers strike each other, at least one of them will completely shatter with lethal force.

busted

Using a custom rig, the MythBusters repeatedly struck pairs of hammers together, but none shattered. Hammers with wooden handles merely snapped in two and hammers with metal handles bent. The MythBusters then decided to make the steel hammers harder and more brittle by adding more carbon and through heat treatment. In particular, they attempted to case harden the hammers, however it is questionable if this was done correctly. They heated the hammers to high temperatures and then coated the hammer heads in used engine oil. They also decided to have the hammers strike a more sturdy anvil instead of each other. However, during testing, the carbonized hammers merely bent at the handles without shattering. Furthermore, an anvil is generally not made of particularly hard steel, and so that test may have been doomed from the beginning. An anvil with a hardened tool steel insert would have been more appropriate. Though the myth was busted, some hammers come with warnings not to use them to strike another tool or hardened nail with excessive force; although no hammerhead shattered or chipped, high-speed footage showed particle dust flying in all directions, which presents an eye hazard.

(This myth was revisited in episode 75 and it was re-busted.)

[Brad Lustig]

The question is, has anyone personally seen a hammer shatter? Or is this one that has been passed down as what happens when 2 hammers hit?

[Normspeed]

You're right Tim, the trick is to tap lightly, not hard enough to mess up the threads. On the trans gasket, those are through-holes.

However, I just added "dead-blow hammer" to my Harbor Freight shopping list.

1) Using eye protection is never a bad idea! ....~but~

2) I have used this technique many times but can't remember using enough ooooomph on the hammer that I could have shattered the head. If you are hitting it that hard, you would be likely to damage the lead threads; or are those through-holes?

[Norm's Coupe]

When I make a gasket I use an xacto knife and hole punches to cut out the holes. If I don't have a punch large enough for the hole, I use a small piece of pipe (conduit, etc.) the size of the hole, sharpen one end on the grinder, than use the pipe as a punch. Always lay the gasket on a piece of scrap pine wood to before punching the hole. That way my punch stays nice and sharp.

If I have to locate the holes without an old gasket, I lay the part on top of the gasket material and locate the holes that way (if they go all the way through). If the hole doesn't go all the way through, I put a bolt in the hole to make a mark on the gasket material. Never used the hammer method.

[Frank Blackstone]

I will put in my $.02 by saying I have made many wilt the gentle tap of the pin end of a hammer. I wear glasses, Frank

[splat1955]

My dad also taught me the fine art of hammering gaskets out the very same way. I have used everything from manila folders to Captain Crunch cereal boxes to make gaskets.

Hey, that's the way I learned also...many years ago. And used a variety of materials as well. Ahhhhh, the good 'ol days.