Fuel Cap Gasket For My Natick Military Stove

Made my first gasket today, for the fuel cap on my Natick proto.

The stove itself:



Fuel cap off:


Gasket off. Not sure what it's made of:



Inner diameter was 3/4", aka 19mm:



Outer diameter was 1", aka 25mm:


As you can see, I didn't quite get it lined up correctly, but, as my brother would say, "good enough for the girls we go with":



On the cap:


Success:



Cooled down, and back home:


I made my inner diameter hole first, then the outer. I put the first disc I cut out back into the hole, to use the mark the center punch left. Had a hell of a time getting the center punch back into the hole, to align it properly. Any suggestions? Thanks for looking.

 

You sure have some wonderful stoves.

 

Thanks man. I lucked out on that one. Got it cheap too. Right place at the right time.

 

That's a nice stove!

 

@kerophile

Thank you sir. I actually have that bookmarked. That's how I knew to do the inner diameter first.

@Remus1956

Thanks man. Here's the original thread I had on it.

 

Yeah...thats a total pig. I can trade you a really nice optimus 8r. Lemme know


HAHAHAHAA

 

Uuuuuum....no.

 

@The Warrior
When I make a gasket I mark the outer diameter with a biro round the punch then get the smaller punch and try and even the spacing all the way round, it usually looks fine until you actually cut it, then any unevenness really shows up! It’s not as easy as you would think either way is it?
Some sort of guide tube to slot the punches into to get the cuts concentric maybe?
I am usually just pleased that it works as a seal TBH.

 

Perhaps I'm the odd one out in the way I make ring seals from Viton. I punch the outer diameter first, then simply place the inner punch on the disc and line it up by eye- making sure there is an even amount of material all around it. Accurate enough for almost all applications. My punches don't have the centre pin.

Kerophile's 'outer first' advice is sound for brittle materials such as burner washers- but that's not an issue with flexible materials, so cut first whichever diamater makes things easiest!

 

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

 

I live in Natick!

 

Some punch sets have concentric punches.

 

@BenniHanna

Nice! Now go to the military base and find some info on this stove, haha.

@snwcmpr

Never seen one before. My biggest problem, in all honesty, is shaky hands. The center punch is spring loaded and leaves a mark, but it was hard for me to get the center punch lined up in the hole it left on the second go round.

 

Here is one example.
https://www.amazon.com/Mayhew-66010-Metric-Hollow-Punch/dp/B003PSUNX8

The problem getting a set that you can match the 2 sizes you need for a stove gasket.

 

Pricey, but very nice.

 

Came across this thread . Some good info on making washers.

 

@The Warrior

Ha! That was my exact thought when I first saw these stoves, I need to get my hands on one, or two, or ten! I asked one guy who worked there and he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, not a clue, it was very disappointing. The Natick army labs is where the Meal Ready to Eat, or MRE's were developed so I imagine these stoves were built before that blockbuster hit of a product. MRE's basically made these stoves obsolete in the army's eyes so I assume the program was canned a long time ago, that's my personal theory anyways.

Still I wonder if there's a crate full of them laying around somewhere just down the street...a man can dream!

 

Don't you mean bagged?

 

@BenniHanna

I'm sure there's a stash somewhere.