At Dooley Gasket we use a variety of fabrication methods to make your parts. The reason we have several types of equipment all for the same purpose of cutting flat gaskets depends on the machine capabilities, material properties, and order requirements.
The flashcutter operates by using pneumatic oscillating blade to saw through the material. The blade is guided by a computer which cuts the part based on a CAD drawing. This eliminates the step needed to make tooling. Cutting without tooling is a big advantage when parts are needed in rush such as same day or next day. Without tooling the size capability is increased to the size of the cutting table – our flashcutter can cut parts up to 10ft long.
The main disadvantage of the flashcutter is that it is much slower than simply punching the parts with a steel rule die. Typically if the quantity of parts needed is greater than 25-50 pieces or if it’s an expected repeat order we’ll recommend purchasing tooling as a more cost effective solution.