I read through the posts and I saw one paddler used a traffic cone. What other tips can you share? What is the best type of knife? Looking at the gasket, it is stamped March 2007. Unless I am mistaken, I can see the rib lines better on the inside of the gasket. Tried stretching. Thanks.
You could put the gasket over a cone
or can inside out so the ridges show better.
A fresh razor blade…
Just roll the cone or can ( I used a glassliquor bottle), and follow with a fresh sharp razor blade.
Go 1 ring at a time…
x-acto knife
I used an x-acto knife. The kind with the rounded blade. I stretched the gasket around a medium sized pot. Be warned, it left a mark all the way around. Fortunately my wife doesn’t cook so she didn’t care (when she finally noticed).
There’s an easier way
I flattened the neck gasket and lined up the edges. Then I cut across at a slight arc (to follow the ring contour) using a pair of sharp scissors. That was all.
The cut was clean and even. No problems.
Me too!
– Last Updated: Dec-20-07 12:06 AM EST –
I have used a pair of high quality finger nail scissors, and it it quite easy to do this way. All you need good quality light to see what you are doing.
Just cut down to the number of rings you want off, and then follow the gap between the rings until you reach your starting point.
Cider Jug
I mounted the neck gasket slightly taught over a cider jug and then trimmed with a fresh razor blade. Make sure you only do one ring at a time, checking fit between each cut.
I pressed mine together and used the
sharpest scissors I had; a pair of mini leatherman scissors. My neck seal looks like a shark took a bite out of it, but it seals just fine and it is very comfortable. I could not get it over my head to start so I removed two rings the first time and then one there after. I think there is only one or two rings left. I would rather let a small amount of water get through than have a tension headache for my whole paddle. Good luck!
Cut on the ring?
Do you cut on the ring or between it?
rings
Think of the ring ridges as a “ripstop”. You want a clean cut, with no nicks, and you don’t want to the finished cut to go through a ring. I cut slightly above a ring using a high-quality pair of scissors.
Greg Stamer
Gasket Trimming
I turn the gasket inside out so I can see the rings easily then I use manicure scissors to cut with. Works great. What Greg said is important… don’t cut across a ring. I bet NRS won’t warrant their gaskets that have been trimmed because folks cut across the ring and it rips.
Soda bottle
or platic pitcher. Razor blade or tat style of knife.Make sure you don’t leave any nicks.