Sanding Belt Repair

[portlandRon]

After purchasing a dozen 1" sanding belts at a sale a few years ago found that they do not store will. After time the glued joints fail.
Internet search came down to there is no easy way to re-glue them. After trying several ways found this to work.

I used Scoth brand Extream Strapping tape. It has Bi-directional fibers. Clean any old glue off the back of the belt. Cut a piece of tape about 5" long. After putting the tape on I pressed the joint in my mill vice over night, Have been using the belt know for three weeks and it is still going.

[OaklandGB]

Huh, who'd a thought that would hold, but hey, can't argue with success!!
Thanks for sharing.

[J Tiers]

Dang.... where were you back when I mentioned the failures a year or two back.....?

I had a lot of them that ended up popping apart and the glue which had been good, was now "gooey" and lasted about 2 min under tension, 5 seconds if run.

I tossed those belts, or converted them to sanding strips.

[BaronJ]

Hi Guys,

I've had some success with rubber based contact adhesive ! Thoroughly clean the area of old glue and replace with contact adhesive. Allow it to dry before sticking the ends together. Once contact is made they are almost impossible to separate without tearing the belt.

I also use contact adhesive and broken belts to make lathe sticks.

[JoeLee]

Good to know. I bought a couple boxes of Sait 4 x 24 for my MIlwaukee belt sander. They were stored in my up stairs wood shop. A little too warm up there in the summer.
Each belt failed within minutes. I remember a couple years ago reading a post about trying to repair them with various types of iron on type tape. Nothing seemed to work.

However my question is with the tape you mentioned, what do you do about the diagonal over lap. You really need a double sided tape. I take it the tape you mention is a single sided tape. It's going to bump as it goes between the platen and the work.

JL................

[J Tiers]

My original belts had no overlap, the tape was very thin and formed the joining material, there was nothing else holding the ends together. No bumping on the platen.

[thaiguzzi]

As others have said above, thank you so much for letting me know 3 years too late.......
Seriously, could be useful in future, i had high end brand name al/ox belts which could only be used for ripping into strips for hand work after joint failure from being over 6 years old.
And i tried everything inc staples, overnight glue in a vise etc etc.

[Tungsten dipper]

Were they Norton brand? I had a bunch of these with the same problem; also some them were oversized.

[SLK001]

Who knew that a sanding belt had an expiration date? I have never seen a "USE BY" date on any belt product, but I, too, have had many that are years old, but unused, "separate" almost immediately after the first use. I had always chalked it up to "cheap Chinese sh$#". I stopped storing my belts in the shop and moved them into the more temperature controlled house - not sure yet if this tactic will prove successful in extending the useful life. I wonder if name brands are also separating with age? Do any manufacturers stand behind their product?

[JoeLee]

Who knew that a sanding belt had an expiration date? I have never seen a "USE BY" date on any belt product, but I, too, have had many that are years old, but unused, "separate" almost immediately after the first use. I had always chalked it up to "cheap Chinese sh$#". I stopped storing my belts in the shop and moved them into the more temperature controlled house - not sure yet if this tactic will prove successful in extending the useful life. I wonder if name brands are also separating with age? Do any manufacturers stand behind their product?

I've never seen that either. It all depends on how they are stored. In my case summer temps of 110 degrees upstairs in the wood shop prematurely dried the glue out.

JL..............

[JoeLee]

A closer loom at mine shows that there is no overlap. The ends are butted at an angle. About 1/2" of tape overlaps each end. The tape measures .006 thick. I can't see where that would cause any bump going between the platen and the work. I've never felt any bumping anyway. It's an iron on / hot melt type of tape.
The glass strands are not a cross lap as you can see. They are oriented in the direction of pull and an arrow indicates the direction to be mounted.
Does anyone know of any type of iron on hot patch type tape??

JL..............

[MattiJ]

Who knew that a sanding belt had an expiration date? I have never seen a "USE BY" date on any belt product, but I, too, have had many that are years old, but unused, "separate" almost immediately after the first use. I had always chalked it up to "cheap Chinese sh$#". I stopped storing my belts in the shop and moved them into the more temperature controlled house - not sure yet if this tactic will prove successful in extending the useful life. I wonder if name brands are also separating with age? Do any manufacturers stand behind their product?

From what I have read the name brands are equally bad. Some chinese belts with overlap glue joint seem to last forever but the joint bangs nastily.

too bad endless belts are available only from some obscure japanese company and in limited sizes

[portlandRon]

The belts I repaired have no overlap at the joint. The joint is cut at a angle and butted together..

I used a couple of spring clamps to hold belt on the straight edge of a piece of plywood for alignment and put the tape on.
First one I tried did not hold for long. Next one I clamped in mill vice over night and next day, with the tape being clear, saw better contact between the tape and the belt.
It's now going on four weeks and belt still being used.

[JoeLee]

From what I have read the name brands are equally bad. Some chinese belts with overlap glue joint seem to last forever but the joint bangs nastily.

too bad endless belts are available only from some obscure japanese company and in limited sizes

That's why they butt them.

JL...............

[JoeLee]

The belts I repaired have no overlap at the joint. The joint is cut at a angle and butted together..

I used a couple of spring clamps to hold belt on the straight edge of a piece of plywood for alignment and put the tape on.
First one I tried did not hold for long. Next one I clamped in mill vice over night and next day, with the tape being clear, saw better contact between the tape and the belt.
It's now going on four weeks and belt still being used.

That sounds promising. Do you know what the thickness of the tape is??
Is there a part or product number for that tape you used?

JL...............