[motohagiography]

There was one I looked into building to solve a problem, which was gasket printing. If you are having motorcycle or other engine repair done, waiting for a gasket can take a week or sometimes more depending on supplier location, and it's something printed from gasket paper.

A website where you can print aftermarket gaskets on demand, and even do it with CAD files or derive them from edge detection in photos would make its money by shipping faster than OEMs, and without worrying about inventory. Retooling an existing custom sticker printing business would do it. Unit margins are like 100x the cost of the paper, and shipping cost margin is the other one.

[behohippy]

I love this idea. I've been desperate enough to reuse gaskets in a few repairs, and suffer oil leaks down the line. Usually it was because of back ordered gaskets that would be weeks or months out. Riding season in Canada is short, so... Take the risk and reuse. If you can ship in a week, I'm a customer.

[jononor]

I also had that idea. I came at it from the side of thinking about using computer vision for (semi) automated CAD file production, and gaskets was one of the best usecases I could come up with.

One the fulfilment side, gaskets can be laser cut, and there are services which offer this on demand. Batching up multiple orders into a sheet would make it more cost efficient, along with always printing Nx the required amount and then stock the rest.

[buddhistian]

Custom gaskets and orings seems like a great and relatively simple business. Have you tested the idea?

[motohagiography]

Other than asking my mechanic if he would buy from me (answered strong yes), no, I have not tested it. I look forward to seeing the Launch HN or product hunt launch if you or someone runs with it. It could be run out of a small town near to an airport somewhere, 2-3 employees. Website could have where in the queue your job was. Complementary goods for extra margin could be in small, specific lubricants (food grade, heat resistant, etc) in mini bottles and packs, assorted washers and bolts, basically small stuff that you order while you are getting something else that saves you a car trip.

[bityard]

I had this same idea a few years back while rebuilding my classic Suzuki GS850 motorcycle. Parts and gaskets are not hard to find for most old Suzukis (thankfully) but there are plenty of older motorcycles, cars, and other engine-related equipment where if you need a gasket, your only option is to make one. Many gaskets are intricate enough that making one by hand is extremely time-consuming, and that's assuming you have the tools and skill to make a gasket. (Even many experienced mechanics don't.)

I hit on the idea when my wife bought a vinyl cutter, which is basically a 2D plotter with a knife instead of a pen. I don't know if anyone makes an affordable cutter that can cut through gaskets (the material is thick and full of knife-dulling materials like fiberglass, metal, and carbon) but if they do, this is a totally doable business. I envision a web site where users can select an existing gasket from their database and have it cut and shipped. Or, if the gasket they want isn't yet in the system, they can draw it out using a vector tool (perhaps tracing over an uploaded photo or scanned image of the gasket). Select the material, provide credit card info and shipping address, and you get a gasket in a week or less.

I wouldn't mind working with someone on this. My strong suit is not coding but I'm okay at project management, research, and architectural stuff. If anyone is interested in chatting about it, feel free to contact me.

[heisenzombie]

There are plenty of companies that will custom-manufacture gaskets for prototyping/custom 1-off jobs, though I don't know if they're generally geared up to sell to end-customers in a streamlined way.

The tools generally used are "flash cutters"[1] (the industrial version of your wife's vinyl cutter); waterjet cutters; or laser cutters. They're all CNC controlled. You need a DXF or other vector file to send to these machines. They're often quite user-friendly now, with either projectors or cameras to help position the cuts on the workpiece, and vacuum-beds which make holding down material quick and easy.

[1] https://cutting-systems.co.uk/flashcut-flex-series-2/

[generj]

https://sendcutsend.com/materials/gasket-grade-cork/

SendCutSend (and probably others) do laser cutting on gasket grade cork and ship orders relatively quickly. You could probably use them as your fulfillment system, leaving you the work to make the gasket database and website. More work or a more expensive fulfillment service would be needed to brand your orders.

They also make all sorts of stuff out of various metals, paint the metals, thread them, etc. They have greatly expanded my capabilities as a hobbyist who is not a machinist.