Belt Question

D

drlozier

Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Messages
158
Anyone here make their own sanding/grinding belts from bulk rolls ? Just curious as to how its done (if it is even feasible). I ask because I am building a grinder and am concerned I may not get my sizing just right to fit belts that are easily available. Thanks !!
 
Nope, not feasible as the seaming process is fairly complex.
 
Ditto
You can't do the splices at home.
I talked to my rep at Klingspore about it once. He told me that the glue used to do the splice ( never mind the precision equipment0 was kept on dry ice until use, and only had a one week shelf life.

Stacy
 
drlozier said:
Anyone here make their own sanding/grinding belts from bulk rolls ? Just curious as to how its done (if it is even feasible). I ask because I am building a grinder and am concerned I may not get my sizing just right to fit belts that are easily available. Thanks !!
Click to expand...

Make a 72" or whatever length belt you need out of paper or cardboard for measuring purposes. Better yet, buy a belt or two and use it to make sure the machine is built rite.
 
Well, I won't say they are perfectly made... nor I would say they run as good as the ones you can buy but... you can glue them yourself. I have seen it done and used some of those belts.

I don't recommend you build a grinder that absolutely needs custom belts. You are better off using 72" belts. But, if you happened to come across a cheap roll of sand paper, give it a try.

I will try to find some more info about how to make them for you to check out.

I am also building a grinder, well, actually three of them. The first one is done an will need a few tweaks (kind of a prototipe) and the drive wheel replaced for a nicely turned one (250mm diameter, like 10"). Another one will be ready for this saturday and the last one (and I hope the best) will be done in two more weeks or so. That's the one I am going to keep. The other ones will be used for two friends of mine.

Anyway, all those three machines will run 80" (2000mm) belts. We are lucky because we can have them custom made for a fair price (like 2,5€ each... $3,25) in Abrasivos BMA, which is like 20 minutes driving from my place. It is not even worht going to pick them up because their shipping charges are very reasonable.

Mikel
 
Thanks everyone. I was leaning in the direction of buying some belts and building around them but I thought I would test the "collective experience of the forum". I am actually building this grinder from an exercise treadmill I picked up for real cheap....it has a 2 and 1/2 horse variable speed motor complete with all the controls and some good rollers to guide the belt....it won't be pretty but I think I can make something useful out of it. I was also going to ask what size belt folks recommend but it looks like the consensus is 72 inches....is the longer length recommended for heat or wear dispersion purposes ? Thanks again....any other advice on this topic is much appreciated !!
 
So to muddy the water further There are folks here who 128" belt setups. Maybe they will chime in
 
2x72 belts are one of the, if not THE most common belts that are available just about anywhere and lots of choices. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot before you're even out of the gate by making a machine that takes a belt in an odd size that you can only get in limited varieties.
 
Thanks 69 !! Your advice is excellent and I am ordering 2 x 72 today. Do you know a good source for contact and idler wheels ? I have some misc "stuff" I have accumulated over the years that I think will work, but if not, I want to get what I need as soon as I can...thanks again...the folks on this forum are awesome the way they happily share their hard-earned experience.
 
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