Old belts blowing apart?

T

Trick

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Mar 3, 2001
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I have some old (they are new belts but I am sure there are older) hermes belts I bought at an auction and have been using them on my coote. I have some belts that L6 sent me but I thought I would use these just to play around and get a feel for the grinder since I only have a couple bucks in a whole stack. The first one I was sharpening my digger for detecting and it blew up in my face. I assumed this was operator error. I just put another one on a few minutes ago and was grinding some flats on some steel with no sharp edges at all touching the belt and it started tracking weird. I stopped it and there was only about a 1/4" left attached holding it together at the seam. Can the glue joint on old belts do this? Or am I the problem? I don't really want many more blowing up in my face. It was not a very pleasent experience. :( :D
 
Yes. I haven't had the problem myself, and I have used some pretty old belts. But folks living in more humid environments seem to have it using old belts.
It seems to be linked to humidity, plus age of belt. It degrades the glue joint.
 
Learn something new every day. And definitely can see why you wouldn't want that happening. Most of my belts are alright, but this makes me think I should burn up belts that came with my grinder when I got it, as unsure of age on those. That definitely would not be a fun happening.
 
Old belts? Hell, if a belt lasts a week in my shop, I consider it old :)
I have heard of that happening. Never had it happen to me.
 
Thanks everyone. These came from an estate sale. The guy passed away and he was in his 90's I believe. His wife went to a nursing home. All the tools of his that sold were engraved from the factory he retired from. The factory has been closed at least 10 years that I know about. I seriously would not be a bit surprised if these belts are at least 30 years old. It is such a shame because I have quite a few. I have only tried the 50 grit belts. Maybe the finer grits will be ok. I am sure I will try some more, at least till I draw blood. :D I might take one and twist it apart at the seam and see how easy it comes apart. Wonder if I could pull them apart and re-glue them? I hate to waste them but if all else fails I can use them for hand sanding I suppose. It was quite the heart stopper when the first one came apart. No warning at all and it sounded like someone shot a 22. It filled my eyes full of grit (I had prescription glasses on, no shield) and was quite breezy. Had to come within an inch or two of my face. :eek: But am I smart enough to learn a lesson from this before I get hurt? Probably not! :D I think I do want to buy a full face shield though. :)
 
I wouldn't try reglueing them. I have never seen anyone able to duplicate a factory joint.
Why not just split these belts and use them for shop rolls? That stuff comes in handy making knives. From contouring handles to small strips with a hard backing for hand rubbing.

I know what you mean about the belt blowing in your face. I had two micron belts blow years ago. It was a bad batch when those belts first came out.
Sounded like someone fired off a 45 in my face. Quite an experience.
Although I wasn't hurt. :eek:
 
That would definitely be the wise thing to do. They would be perfect for that. It doesn't matter what I sand, I only usually tear off little pieces of sand paper off a sheet anyway. :)
If I remember right, the finer grits were 3M belts. If they are a different brand I am going to try those. Not that there is anything wrong with fresh hermes belts. Just a little paranoid now of the ones I have. :D
 
I had one blow, and it sounded like a 12ga. going off. The belt also slapped my belly. Not fun, and yes, it scared the crap out of me. Now, protective gear is a must. The blown belt was a blue 3M, which surprised me, too.
 
I had a batch of belts in my shed. I was working a way from home and the belts got damp sitting on a box on the floor. They even grew a bit of mould. I had the problem with them flying appart.

when I inspected the batch Some I glued that were still holding. They came aprt after a while some I just used for hand sanding.

I keep my belts in a cupboard draw now up off the floor.
 
Hey Junk, maybe you could try dropping some really thin CA glue on the splice from behind? Maybe if you saturate the splice then let it cure a day or two it will hold up.
 
Don't think that is an option now that I looked at the first belt that blew. You can see that the joint is dry as a bone. Only spot of glue on either side is up at the top. No tape on the back or anything. I might spread out some jb weld across the back on the seam and just see what happens. But even then I will be on the slowest speed. (The belts that are still new that is, not the broke belts)
belt2.jpg

Now the 3M belts I don't think I am worried about. They are taped and glued. They appear to be strong but I didn't try to pull them apart or used any yet.
belt1.jpg
 
Don't use JB weld-Bleed pink Zap-A Gap in from both the front and back side. Spray the "kicker" on lightly. Then, run them slow and be ready to duck.
 
I bet the super glue idea will work. Its at least worth a try. I would mount the belt on the grinder so it is straight and at tension first. One more thought came to mind....How tight are you running your belts? Be sure you are not over tensioning them. The bearings will last much lomger too. Does the belt have an arrow for direction?
 
To my way of thinking, it's just not worth it trying to get mileage out of belts this way.
You are putting yourself in the path of potential harm, real harm, just for a few bucks. I have never seen anybody yet that was successful at splicing belts. It has been tried by many.

Someone else said, to make good knives, use the belts like they were free. Don't skimp, and don't try to get extra life from poor, or worn belts.
 
Wellllll, uh, since I put the pyroceram on my platen there is nothing but tension on the belts. I have to put all my weight in the spring loaded arm to get the belt on and even then I have to turn the contact wheel to get it the rest of the way on. I think the only way around that is if I take it all apart and drill new holes in the grinder and lower assembly some. This just may be a big part of the problem. As far as a direction arrow, never looked. Never thought about it. I feel about stupid. It sure takes more than having the equipment to be a knife maker, that is for sure.
Yep, I am an idiot!!! :( I just checked, there are arrows on the hermes belts. I probably had them on wrong. I guess the only way to learn is to mess up a bunch of stuff first. My goodness I feel stupid. But it is really, really tight getting the belts on. I don't believe there is a slot where the upper steel arm is bolted to the lower grinder frame. I think it is just a bolt hole. I will go check on that here in a few minutes.
Y'all can start pointing and laughing at me now. :D
 
You could throw a V-groove pully on the shafts, and use a small water pump belt or something...

Another would just be running to the parts store and finding something the same size...

Have you checked the alignment of the pulley's?
 
Stupid me... Smacks self about the head...

I'm not sure what you can do when it comes to a sanding/grinding belt!

Ducks an runs, picking up hurled tomatoes on the way off the stage :eek:
 
hahahaha hotrod :D here catch another tomato :D

I've only had one blow up,, it was like a canon going off :D :D
and then,, the quite,, just the hum of the motor,, wait
until you catch a blade in the wheel,,,, now
that will get your attention fast. plus buying a new wheel wasn't fun ether:( I'm glad I wasn't using a rest on it.

:grumpy: it's not worth hurting yourself for
a few bucks. I'd strip them up too then it's not a big loss to you.
 
Nice thread, 22>45>12 ga.>cannon. I guess each of you guys have succesively bigger grinders:D It definately takes some getting used to!
 
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