Door Gasket Replacement - Trimming The Rope

[Ayatollah]

I am at the end of a tune up for our osburn insert, and am now replacing the door gasket. I was trying to obtain a cleaner cut of the gasket ends so it would be a nice butt where they meet. Unfortunately, my attempts at pefection are failing. I've sharpened the scissors twice too, and still get this unraveling after and during the cut. Anyone else know a different method for this?

 

[John R]

A good sharp razor knife, with a new blade.

 

[Ayatollah]

A good sharp razor knife, with a new blade.

OK...That failed miserably too

 

[Fifelaker]

Put the gasket on a board sandwiched between two other boards one on each side(Tight) and a SHARP utility knife just one swipe, if you have to "saw" it you will get a mess.

 

[blades]

Have not messed with gasket material yet but will need too shortly. What is the composition of the material? ceramic fiber, glass Fiber ect.? Something to try, referencing back to a customer a number of years ago cutting a type of high heat insulation board on a table saw, about an 1" thick. At normal circular saw speed it was like taking a hammer and beating your way through a poured concrete wall. at apx 1/3 maximum rpm, the blade cut like a hot knife in a block of lard, carbide tipped saw. so possible a thin abrasive cutoff blade ( i do not think the reinforced one the other- it is a dark brown and fairly smooth ) in a Dremel ( not the battery driven ones ) tool or similar might be the trick. You would have to play around a bit for rpm. secondly a containment option of the rope at the cutting point might also be of some help. Another idea using Dremel would be a friction type cut. one of the little ( about 1" dia) saw blades on same arbor as cut off wheel, the teeth would need to be removed and then the resulting edge sharpened to a knife edge maybe single sided or tapered on both sides. Just some random thoughts. All kinds of strange tools come in my shop for grinding an sometimes it becomes quite challenging to come up with something for a particular application.

 

[Ayatollah]

Put the gasket on a board sandwiched between two other boards one on each side(Tight) and a SHARP utility knife just one swipe, if you have to "saw" it you will get a mess.

Yeah, I imagine a little homemade guillotine would be best. In lieu of that though, I whipped the ends tightly with very fine copper wire, cut it with sharpened scissors, and then pulled the whipping off at the last minute before seating it in the groove. It's just naturally prone to unravel though, so I recommend it be overstuffed a bit where the butt joint is

 

[Fyrebug]

We make the Osburn so can offer some advice. Are you using the same black gasket your insert came with or the cheap white stuff? If you use the white stuff you may want to reconsider. It has a lot less fibres and does not have a tightly woven braid. Ie. it will leak a lot more air in the combustion chamber and your combustion and efficiencies will suffer. You will likely burn hotter and shorter.

What I do with mine is wrapped foil HVAC tape at either end of the gasket then cut through the foil. I leave the foil on and glue the gasket in place and Voila!

All the best.

 

[Ayatollah]

We make the Osburn so can offer some advice. Are you using the same black gasket your insert came with or the cheap white stuff? If you use the white stuff you may want to reconsider. It has a lot less fibres and does not have a tightly woven braid. Ie. it will leak a lot more air in the combustion chamber and your combustion and efficiencies will suffer. You will likely burn hotter and shorter.

What I do with mine is wrapped foil HVAC tape at either end of the gasket then cut through the foil. I leave the foil on and glue the gasket in place and Voila!

All the best.

I bought the black one, but it has a white insert inside. Kinda like a mounds candy bar :msp_smile:

By the way, we have the one with the bay window, and it's seems to have tweaked a bit over the years. It's now not hitting the latch optimumly, and you have to jiggle the handle a bit. It seems to be mostly the handle itself and the hole the handle rotates in that is the problem. that looks quite hard to remedy. Can a replacement door be had without being cost prohibitive?

 

[Joe Homeowner]

Simple:
Tape about an 1" or so on the gasket ends with SCOTCH TAPE. As said, using a new blade, cut 1/2 way thru the tape then glue the $#@%& in the groove.
The scotch tape burns off but the gasket stays in place since the 'glue' ( called "water glass" ...who knows why ? ) misses 1/2" only.
Used this for many stoves over the years. And, use High Density gaskets, not the soft crap sold in Depot or hardware stores.

Nice forum BTW. You're welcome.:msp_smile:

 

[blades]

Ahh, the KISS principal - always the best.

 

[Whitespider]

Simple... What I've always done is tie a piece of sewing thread (two or three wraps) tightly around the rope seal right next to where I cut.
I use a razor sharp knife with a stiff backbone to cut the seal... just lay the seal on a soft board, set the knife-edge on the seal and whack the knife backbone with a hammer... clean cut.
Glue the darn thing in place with the sewing thread still on it... trim it off after the glue sets if'n ya' want.

 

[Fyrebug]

I bought the black one, but it has a white insert inside. Kinda like a mounds candy bar :msp_smile:

By the way, we have the one with the bay window, and it's seems to have tweaked a bit over the years. It's now not hitting the latch optimumly, and you have to jiggle the handle a bit. It seems to be mostly the handle itself and the hole the handle rotates in that is the problem. that looks quite hard to remedy. Can a replacement door be had without being cost prohibitive?

I have the bay window myself. There are small washers available to adjust the door height. Do you have the 1800 or 2200? Let me know and i'll PM you the part #.

 

[elmoleaf]

For fiberglass gaskets, I use a pair of wire cutters.
No sawing action etc. required.....one snip and you're through clean.

 

[Ayatollah]

I have the bay window myself. There are small washers available to adjust the door height. Do you have the 1800 or 2200? Let me know and i'll PM you the part #.

I have the 2200

 

[Joe Homeowner]

Simple... What I've always done is tie a piece of sewing thread (two or three wraps) tightly around the rope seal right next to where I cut.I use a razor sharp knife with a stiff backbone to cut the seal... just lay the seal on a soft board, set the knife-edge on the seal and whack the knife backbone with a hammer... clean cut.Glue the darn thing in place with the sewing thread still on it... trim it off after the glue sets if'n ya' want.

Too much, too complex. Besides, real men don do sewing thread. :msp_scared:

K.I.S.S. : scotch tape the ends, cut, glue. No stinkin' sewing thread, no wraps, no hammer, no backbone, no board, no whacking.

What size and color thread you use ? :jester:

 

[Ayatollah]

Too much, too complex. Besides, real men don do sewing thread. :msp_scared: :jester:

Centuries of sailors would disagree to the point of beating the crap out of you.

 

[Joe Homeowner]

Centuries of sailors would disagree to the point of beating the crap out of you.

I concur oh Ayatollah. Beat on....

However: those "centuries of sailors" never used "sewing thread" ( to whip or such, it was "line" and usual pine tarred ) for near a century. At least not in our Navy except to darn socks and undies. :msp_scared:

Iron sails and iron ships don use thread for nothing ( anything, sorry ).

How in the H does Sacramento ( lat/lon wayyyyy far from any water ) know about "sailors" ?

 

[Ayatollah]

I concur oh Ayatollah. Beat on....

However: those "centuries of sailors" never used "sewing thread" ( to whip or such, it was "line" and usual pine tarred ) for near a century. At least not in our Navy except to darn socks and undies. :msp_scared:

Iron sails and iron ships don use thread for nothing ( anything, sorry ).

How in the H does Sacramento ( lat/lon wayyyyy far from any water ) know about "sailors" ?

Surely you jest. Sacramento has many sailing opportunities, Folsom lake for one, and the Sacramento river and deep water channel. Many sailors up here. Dock your boat up here in the winter, and sail down through the delta in summer. There's a sailing club at Lake Natoma, and lake washington, the latter is at the end of the deep water channel at the port of Sac.

Sacramento was a destination port for goods sailed upriver since the 1800's

 

[Joe Homeowner]

Surely you jest. Sacramento has many sailing opportunities, Folsom lake for one, and the Sacramento river and deep water channel. Many sailors up here. Dock your boat up here in the winter, and sail down through the delta in summer. There's a sailing club at Lake Natoma, and lake washington, the latter is at the end of the deep water channel at the port of Sac.
Sacramento was a destination port for goods sailed upriver since the 1800's

No jest...just damn ignorance. Who woulda known Folsom L., Sacramento R., L. Natoma, L. Washington ? Hey, we're the Right Coast. Didn't even know that Sacramento was a port; we thot it was only a capital. Dumb &%$#@. I stand corrected.:redface:

Bet those sailors shipped/ship some high end ganja.

You know anyone who can whip rope ends ? And, never "thread". Line.

Back to the topic: a reminder to do the stoves now.

 

[Ayatollah]

No jest...just damn ignorance. Who woulda known Folsom L., Sacramento R., L. Natoma, L. Washington ? Hey, we're the Right Coast. Didn't even know that Sacramento was a port; we thot it was only a capital. Dumb &%$#@. I stand corrected.:redface:

Bet those sailors shipped/ship some high end ganja. .

Back then, they shipped opium, miners, and mining supplies. These days it's rice and corn. It's always a surprising sight to see a ship coming or going up the channel. From a distance, it looks like it's sailing on dry land. There was a lock that would take boats from the Sac river to the deep water channel, but reagan closed it back when he was supreme commander.
On a somewhat related note to this forum, each year, there is a good supply of firewood that can be plucked from the river's clutches. Fish it out, cut it, and let it dry out for next year.