For over 80 years, the neoprene rubber gasket has been widely used in a variety of applications from automotive to industrial. The properties of neoprene are more or less a perfect fit for this type of application due, to the synthetic rubber’s moderate resistance to oils and grease, its tolerance to a wide temperature range, and its excellent physical properties. As with many types of rubber, neoprene is an easy material to work with and can be fabricated into a variety of custom neoprene items including gaskets and seals.

There are many ways that gaskets and seals are fabricated. Four of the more commonly-used neoprene cutting techniques by neoprene suppliers are die cutting, laser cutting, hydro-jet cutting and hand cutting. Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages:

• Hand cutting: Needless to mention, this is the least-tolerant critical method of cutting or any rubber. This method will leave tolerances of 1/16 inch (.0625”) on most cut parts that are 1/2 inch (.50”) and below and up to 1/4 inch (.250”) tolerances on material 1 inch or thicker. However this is a very effective method in cutting parts that are square or rectangular in shape are too large for die cut machines. Since no tooling is required, the lead times for this type of neoprene cutting are a bit faster. Another advantage of this type of a cut is when a client may want only a few parts for testing and does not want to invest in tooling or programming fees associated with other cutting methods.

• Die cutting: The technique involved in die cutting is as elementary as playing with Play-Doh. The process begins when the desired gasket shape is made into a metal die, which is essentially a strip of metal bent into the gasket shape. Think of how a cookie-cutter works. This metal die is pressed through a material, stamping out the shape. Of the four cutting techniques mentioned, die cutting is appropriate in less tolerance-critical circumstances. If the tolerances of the product are less than 1/16 inch (.0625”) then other cutting methods must be considered. Die cutting cannot be performed with just any material and thickness. This style is limited to thinner sheets of rubber; generally sheets thicker than 3/8 inch (.375”) cannot be die cut. The overall dimension of the rubber part must also be relatively small and less than 24 inches on any one side.
• Laser cutting: If you’ve watched any James Bond film, you probably have rough notion of how laser cutting works. The gasket shape is inputted into a computer that is connected to the laser cutting machine. Then, as per the computer’s queue, a high-powered laser beam maneuvers over the material, cutting extremely precise lines. This technique consumes a large amount of energy and is used only when a neoprene rubber gasket needs a tighter tolerance. This might be neoprene suppliers’ least favorite procedure and is thus used with the least frequency.
• Hydro-jet cutting: Custom neoprene can also be made using the power of water. This process begins similar to laser cutting since a design is first inputted into a computer. The computer then controls the hydro-jet cutter and sprays a high-pressured jet stream of water through the material. For tougher materials, an abrasive is added into the water and aids in cutting the material off clean. Hydro-jet cutting is regarded as an eco-friendly cutting process since it doesn’t require as much energy as laser cutting and uses water as the cutting tool essentially. Unlike laser cutting, there is no measure of heat that is used to cut the material. Also tolerances for materials can be kept very tight. There are programming fees and higher cutting costs associated with this method, but, the quality of the end-product is unmatched.

Fabricating a neoprene rubber gasket is a crucial factor in ensuring that a liquid- and gas-tight seal is established. The aforementioned neoprene cutting techniques all precisely shape the material with varying strengths. Gaskets and custom neoprene items like rubber feet or pads, all utilize this technology for efficiency and precision. Make sure that the neoprene supplier’s method of fabrication is in-line with the needs of your application.