Blacksmithing
and Cutlery
by Gérard HEUTTE Home
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Fabrication of Teflon Washers
Here is how to make teflon washers suitable for cutlery. The teflon washers exist in the trade, but they have seldom the right size, usually too thick and not wide enough!
Teflon
The basic material is a sheet of Teflon. It can be found in shops specialized in non metalic materials, for example Weber in France. Teflon sheets are available in various thicknesses. For folder's washers, a thickness of about 0.2 or 0.3 mm is appropriate.
Cutting
Cut out squares of adequate size, in general, the outer diameter with a good margin (10mm).
Drilling
For the hole in the washer, I strongly advise against punch. Indeed, the Teflon is relatively soft, the punch tends to distort it. The resultant washers will not be perfectly flat ... After several unsuccessful attempts, I have chosen drilling.
To avoid distortion, make a stack with the squares of Teflon on a piece of pretty hard wood. Mark the center of the squares for drilling. Put another piece of wood on the top of the stack before gripping it with clamps. Do not put too many layers of Teflon because the lower layers could be distorted during drilling.
Drill gently with bit at a diameter of the axis of the folder.

The stack before drilling.

Outline of washers after drilling.

Cutting out
For the outside, thread the washers on a screw at the good diameter between metal washers. The set can be hold by one or two nuts. Cut anything that exceeds with a cutter... Remove the parts and it is ready!

The outlines on their axis.

Cutting the excess.


View after the cut.

The final washers.