I am fixing an old hydraulic press and needed to cut a few simple gaskets.
The material is called Garlock performance 3000.
This stuff is great if you need to make your own gaskets for older cars and the like.
I got mine from McMaster-Carr, but Amazon has it as well.
It cut beautifully at full power and a speed of 300.
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Great use of the GF! How nice to be able to custom cut your own gaskets.
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Is that like a rubbery material? Or more of a felt?
(We are always needing gaskets of one kind or another around here.)
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It is rubber with aramid (sort of like kevlar or nomex) fibers mixed in and it withstands high temps and all kinds of chemicals.
https://www.garlock.com/en/products/blue-gard-style-3000
You can make quite reasonable gaskets for a lot of purposes out of thin cardboard (i.e. cereal box type stuff).
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Yep, that’s the stuff although you linked to the 1/16" version and I wanted 1/64".
I absolutely detest trying to find what I want in the Amazon interface, so I just use McMaster-carr. The price is pretty similar and I <3 that company.
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This is a very bad idea. here is the health statement from garlock-
Harmful and / or toxic vapors may be produced in the event of thermal decomposition. This
product contains constituents that can cause lung and respiratory tract disorders, including
irritation, pneumoconiosis and cancer.
This material is typically processed using an atom cutter which is a vibrating knife because heat causes very bad fumes.
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I am not sure where you are sourcing your data, but I was unable to find any conclusive results on the dangers of laser cutting aramid fibers before I attempted this.
I looked into cutting both kevlar and nomex, and they are both regularly cut with CO2 lasers in industrial settings. The fumes are not noted as being particularly dangerous in ANY of the MSDS documents I read.
To quote the Dupont MSDS for Nomex aramid…
Burning NOMEX® and KEVLAR® produce hazardous gases similar to those from wool.
These are mostly carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and small amounts of hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, aldehydes, aliphatic hydrocarbons and other toxic gases depending on conditions of burning.
http://hazard.com/msds/mf/dupont/nomex.html
I found some documentation of a potential inhalation risk from the short fibers produced, but I am personally comfortable given the amount of ventilation the Glowforge provides.
http://www.airsystems-inc.com/air-purification-news/air-quality/laser-cuttings-harmful-side-effects/
Note that the source for that link is a company that MANUFACTURES air cleaners/filters.
You are welcome to choose your own level of concern, but you should really do some research and avoid scaring people unnecessarily.
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Its up to you to expose yourself to possibly harmful compounds. There is more than aramid fiber in that material. sure you may feel that its safe provided the ventilation is good for you indoors but what about your putting outside?
Here is the SDS that you should be looking at- https://public.sitehawk.com/viewpdf.aspx?MaterialID=1524628&facilityID=236&UseCatalog=True
Dupont has nothing to do with the Bluegard 3000 material.
I have done the research, its not advised to cut that material with a laser.
Dupont manufactures the aramid fibers.
The other “hazardous” material listed in the SDS is crystalline silica.
My conscience is OK with exhausting that outside.
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