Commissioning a new set of door handle gaskets

A big thank you to the guys at GP Products in West Sussex for producing a brand new set of Jaguar XJR door handle gaskets for us. Amazingly, these gaskets are almost impossible to find as spares (like a lot of spares for the XJR) so our only option was to commission a new set using a bespoke template.

Source: GP Products

Softcut

Our production plants produce ‘soft-cut’ gaskets from every conceivable type of flexible gasket material. Utilising the most modern methods of production we are able to supply special one-off and short run work on a variety of presses, including conventional hydraulic presses, CNC operated Milling cutters, Laser-Jet, Water-Jet cutting machines and just as importantly, from our hand-fabrication department. Using automatic presses, we also produce parts in multi-millions from all types of tooling. These parts can include simple washers for plumbing installation or insulators used in electrical switches. Larger components produced in bulk tend to go to industries such as Automotive or Domestic Appliance, where demands for today’s laboursaving devices are forever increasing. Soft-cut is a general term for gaskets produced in any material that is flexible – ranging from inexpensive gasket papers, through to Corks, Rubbers, Fibre based materials, Felts, Foams, Plastics etc., – all of the materials in our stock range are converted. Production is not limited to straightforward flat cut parts, we can also form parts into shapes. Material such as Leather is still used to produce cup washers for valves for instance and electrical insulation materials are often produced with bends and creases to give a continuous electrical resistant barrier inside many pieces of equipment.

Spiralwound

Spiral Wound gaskets are supplied world-wide to reliably seal flanges which are subject to arduous pressure and temperature conditions. This type of gasket is able to accommodate pressures from high vacuum to over 700 bar (10000 psi) and seal at temperatures from cryogenic to 1650°C. They are available in all metals and fillers, either to International standards, (ANSI B16.5, BS1560, BS10, BS4504,MSS SP44, DIN and AP1605) or custom made to individual sizes.

Flange

Tooling to produce pipe-flange gaskets for every conceivable table including BST, ANSI, JIS and ASA is used to make flat gaskets for industries including Petrochemical, Water, Gas and Sewage! With standard sized gaskets certain series are kept on the shelf for ex-stock deliveries, although many of our products are in stock materials that can be produced immediately for dispatch, often on the same day!

Metalic

Corrugated gaskets: Corrugated gaskets are ideal for irregular shapes and low pressure applications. They are available in a wide range of thin sheet materials. The gaskets can be faced with many different sealing materials such as PTFE, Non-Asbestos, Graphite, Rubber etc, to enhance their performance. Laminated with mineral boards and encased in a PTFE envelope they provide the standard sealing system for glass lined vessel flanges.

Metal clad gaskets: Metal clad gaskets can be manufactured in any specified combination of metal and filler material. Complex shapes are no problem. Heat Exchanger gaskets can be made in a one-piece construction or with welded-in pass bars to suit the application. Various different styles of gasket are available, the metal cladding around the softer core giving great strength and versatility to the gasket. With Rubber, Woven Ceramic, Non-Asbestos millboard, PTFE and Graphite available as fillers inside outer cladding made from Soft Iron, Soft Steel, Copper, Monel, Brass, Stainless Steel, Chrome Aluminium, Incoloy, Titanium, Inconel or Nickel a huge selection of sealing conditions can be met.

Solid metal gaskets: All types of solid and expanded metal gasket materials are used to produce items from simple flat washers and shims to specialised lens rings and grooved profiles. These can also be supplied with flexible sealing materials bonded or vulcanised to the surface where required to give more sealable surfaces (especially useful on damaged flange faces). Special expanded rubber faced metals are produced (mostly for automotive applications) that exhibit high sealing properties at extended temperatures. These materials are particularly suited to high temperature operating conditions where parts need to meet exacting tolerances and guaranteed working lives.

Metal reinforced gaskets: Various materials and configurations are utilised to manufacture flat gaskets used for many different applications. Using reinforcement layers made from wire strand, thin sheet, tanged (metal sheet pierced with a special hole design and configuration) and expanded metals the British Gaskets Group manufacture gaskets using material bases from Non-Asbestos to Graphite and Mica.