Great gasket cutter for gumball machines!

[buzzojoe]

HI!
I don't know how many of you cut your own gaskets for your gumball/peanut machines, but I've always struggled with it. I've tried tracing the circles and using a razor knife, and have purchased a few of the "compass" type cutters, but they are too cheap and flimsy to work with gasket material, and it's nearly impossible to keep them in place so that you can cut "thin" gaskets. But the other day I was at a hobby store buying some paint and saw a thing called a "Curvy Cutter". It's like a little "car" that runs around on a circular plastic thing that has different "track grooves" in it for different diameter circles. It was expensive (like $30.00) at the store, but I got one on Ebay for $15.00. it works GREAT! I tried it with both cork and cardboard type gasket materials, and the gaskets come out PERFECT! Obviously it's not made for doing large quantities, but for a collector who is just using it for his own machines, I think it's PERFECT! Since the round plastic part with the tracks in it sits on the gasket material, it can't shift around and mess up the circular cuts. Of course gaskets aren't expensive to buy from Crow River, but I'm like a little kid when I get a machine done and want to get it together without waiting a week to get the gaskets for it. And I hate it when I see a really nicely restored machine with a gaskets that look like they were made out of a cardboard wheaties box with some nail clippers! Anyway, just figured that I'd pass along something cool....

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Great info! I frequent hobby shops for other things that I collect, but have not seen this "Curvy Cutter" that you mention.
Sounds like a really neat device, and a time-saver, when it comes to circular gasket cutting. What is the largest & smallest circle
it will cut? Are there just specific sizes, or can it be adjusted for a variety of diameters? I don't restore many gumball machines,
but I can vision other uses for it. Back to my coffee ..............

[BEER4U]

Cool find. That will work great for making the paper gasket between
your sink basket and rubber gasket and the retainer ring under your sink too.
Put ""Curvy Cutter" in the ebay search box for a look.
Thanks BuzzJoe.

[buzzojoe]

Here are some pics of it.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/v ... XjaWr9bgE&

[HSaidman]

A really good cutter is to go to a Clock Supply house and buy a dial cutter or they might call it a face dial cutter. Easy to use and cheap. I think you can find them on ebay.

Here is one

http://www.perrinwatchparts.com/product/2640.aspx

You set it to the inside diameter, make your cut, then expand it to the how wide you want, and make the second cut.

[buzzojoe]

I've tried the face cutters and other compass type cutters, but always have problems with the gasket material (especially rubber or cork) moving around. The curvy cutter lays on the material and keeps it from shifting.
That's what I really like about it.