Sandpaper belts broke...fixed.

holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:42 pm

Well, my friend scored a $300 SS yesterday and with it came a ton of belts for the belt sander. Problem was that every single one of them broke at the seam once they were mounted. So, not to throw tons of money worth of belts in the trash I experimented until I came up with a way to save them. Here it is and I know you love pics.
We've already established that they broke but how to put them together. First is the pesky glue line left by the previous adhesive.
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You've got to scrape off the adhesive. I used an old card scraper. No, contact cement and Poly glue will not bond to it. Don't skip this step.
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Lay a piece of blue painters tape on the abrasive side of the belt and turn it inside out.
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Join up both parts. You'll have to skillfully hold this down with one hand and lay everything on with the other.
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holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:47 pm

Use white 20 minute gorilla poly glue and spread.
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I used an old drawstring backpack cut up into strips. The material has no give and is very thin. Lay it into the glue like fiberglassing.
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Cover with wax paper
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slide a board in between the sides of tha paper and I clamped to my workbench for 1 hour.
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holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:50 pm

How did it do?
The back aint pretty but it is very sturdy. Wax paper remains but who cares. I removed what I could. The key is the blue material bonding both sides
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The front. Perfect fix. Mounted all of them on my belt sander and gave each one a run through the paces. Not a problem. So for an old backpack and glue 6-8 belts have been saved.
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h-bomb · Post by **h-bomb** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:37 am

Thanks, great tip for all sanding belts.

Good pictures.

foxtrapper · Post by **foxtrapper** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:34 am

Have you run those belts yet?

Not disagreeing that they aren't glued together. Just wondering about how rough they run over the pulley and when a woodpiece is pushing against them.

holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:59 am

I ran all of them. The first belt I learned just how much glue etc. The key is the bonding material from a string-pack. Very thin and strong. Use alot of clamping pressure to make sure everything lays flat and force glue into the fibers of the blue bonding material. There is no discernible bump as the belt passes over the pulleys. Of course, I had a number of belts to practice on to get this right so what you see above is not my first attempt.
You may wish to sand the back of the belt to remove any rough spots.