What a $1,700.00 Teflon Sheet looks like.

[wrustle]

Just as the title states, this sheet of 

"Chemical-Resistant PTFE Gasket Material, Soft Expanded Value Seal"

tips the monetary scale at just under $1,700.00!!




The sheet in the picture is .125" thick x 60" x 60".




We lay out the sheet and cut it up into 63pcs roughly 6.5" x 7.75".  (can you say, "measure THREE times, and cut once?")



The pieces are then loaded onto a fixture in one of our Haas machining centers.



The fixture being a special design to hold the gasket in place with minimal distortion takes the operator about 90 seconds to load, machine, remove, and load the next piece.




Once the gasket is located in the fixture, a holding plate is placed on top to completely secure the gasket from lifting when being drilled. 






Here's a picture of two of the finished drilled pieces.



With the material being so EXTREMELY soft, removing the tabs left by the drill drilling through must be done by hand.  The white glove is worn to prevent leaving dirty or oily smudges on the parts while being handled.






Once the pieces are cut, machined and deburred, they are packed in individual sealed bags and shipped off to our forensic test equipment customer.




From start to finish it's approx. 3 hours to make the 63 pieces the one sheet yields.  

Best Regards,
Russ