Hey, I don't know if any of y'all have wives who are all into craft stuff like mine is, but mine has a Cricut and uses it all the time. It's like a CNC cutting and marker machine for paper and vinyl all kinds of stuff. Anyway! Point being she saw on Facebook where another woman had cut out a really complex gasket for her husband and she asked if I needed anything like that done. BOY HOWDY.

Mine aren't very complicated but it's SO much nicer to have perfect lines and circles instead cutting them out by hand. Plus, she saved the file so if I need more it'll take 2 minutes next time instead of 10 minutes like this time.





And yes, that's a pair of U&J upper halves that are gonna run together on my Rajo 4 valve speedster. Just waiting for the lower halves to come back from machine shop.

Seth, it looks like you are setting up your twin carbs with a solid linkage. There needs to be some flexibility in the connecting rod so that the carbs can be synchronised. It would also help if there is some flexibility in the linkage rod so that small mis-alignments can be catered for.

Previously there has been a thread where I advised the use of W clips to link the rod between the carb. These allow easy synchronising and will allow some leeway in aligning the shafts.

Or have I mis-read your photos?

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

Seth: My wife has been wanting one of those, Now I guess she has the justification.

That would be great for those delicate carburetor bowl baskets. Right now I use a compass with two Exacto blades. The Cricut machine would make this much easier.

Hey Allan, the linkage is a little flexible and is also adjustable. I've already had it all hooked up on the intake and it works well.

Seth can you explain a little more about how this works? Thank you.

Slick! One of these days, we won't buy parts, we'll buy 3D computer files to plug into our 3D metal printers so that we can print our own parts. Farfetched? I think not....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwFspzVGUF4

My wife has one of these gismos, where did U get the patterns

Thanks for the link, Mark!
Could be an answer to the obsolete or irreplaceable dilemma. For us northerners, they identified one of their seven USA locations to be in Eden Prairie, MN. However, parts might still be too pricey when we don't have Jay Leno's deeper pockets....

Marv, those parts are only too pricey right now. Give it five or ten years.

John there's so much to explain I don't even know where to start. Watch these two videos and that should give you a decent idea about how it works.

https://youtu.be/dbNdLBqvMTQ

https://youtu.be/oI6LI4lnyW4

It doesn't answer everything but gives you a gist. The software is really easy to use and is similar to MS Paint. You can use it to make your own shapes to cut or (Wilf this is your question) you can just start with a picture you have or find on the internet and modify it. For the gasket I just found a good straight on picture and wife tweaked the size and hole size to my measurements.

I'm not selling these things or promoting them, just mentioning them (there are other brands and types) because it worked so well for cutting out the gasket, plus a bunch of you may have one already and not even know it!

Last December I gifted my wife with one of those (her second one). Now I have been tasked with learning to use it. It is a CNC machine where you do not have access to the codes. You build the images with a very cumbersome graphics program. I have planned on using the gasket capabilities and storing the files. Once I have a gasket saved I will be glad to share the file... how about others sharing their files? I have figured a way to get gasket patterns by scanning the part and saving the image as a jpg to merge with Cricut Design Suite... pretty slick!

Terrie wants me to teach her how to use it once I am more proficient. My youngest daughter is coming up to speed on that machine. Btw the company, Cricut, has good technical support... all located in Spanish Fork, Utah so I have no difficulty hearing what they are saying.

The big plus is I got an extra blade for my wife... so I am allowed to dedicate one to my projects!!

Be aware that there are several level machines (hence the two we have). You will need to insist your significant other have one of the best because they are programmable. The lower level ones have proprietary memory sticks you must purchase to get software input. They have lots of pretty design cartridges but no automotive ones. We have a Cricut Explore Air machine... don't go for a lesser one or you will end up with two. Be aware you will need to link the machine with your computer, laptop, or tablet. I suspect it can be done from a smart phone, but am not sure.

Some of you know about my legendary frugality and probably wonder about the purchase of two of these machines (three really, she wore out the first one!)... I noticed her eyeing my lathe, mill, mig welder, table saw, drill press, angle grinder, hydraulic press... at that point I suggested we go to the house and look at the Cricut catalogue!!! Go figure!

TH

-Tim-
Good, bad, or indifferent, our Model T's will probably outlast us while we wait for affordable replacement parts of our own. Doo-yah think replacing a shoulder, hip, or knee joint is 'cheap' because "They've been doing that for years?" Gotta figgur costs will continue to go up in this Technology Age until it becomes universally available.