Thread: Sanding Belts needing a fix

I bought some very cheap sanding belts that have a tendency to fall apart due to the tape failing. Have a look on the Timbecon site. They have a Fast-Cap tape specially made for the job. It reads up pretty well although I have yet to repair my belts. i must do it soon and report back here

If that Fastcap tape is anything like their edgebanding tape it should work a treat; the glue is super strong.

I tried a few things and had limited success with a 3M? double sided pressure sensitive carpet tape. The belt segments being stuck have to be clean and have to be clamped HARD for some time before use.

Have since found that some belt splicers use a tape called Accubind Pro which is the similar to a tape used by quality bookbinders.
It's a tape applied under heat and pressure.
I did look into buying some but it was too expensive for me given most of my belts are fairly worn when they break so I figured I would buy just put the money into new belts.

There's a discussion about belts falling apart and Accubind Pro in this thread.
Super tape for abrasive belts?

[EDIT]I just looked up Accubind strips on ebay - make sure you are sitting down when you see the price and shipping[EDIT]

Reading the above and doing some more “research” on the net, it is becoming obvious that mine is not an isolated problem. My belts are all made in Germany which may or may not be a good thing.

I’ll keep looking.

Originally Posted by Bob38S

Reading the above and doing some more “research” on the net, it is becoming obvious that mine is not an isolated problem. My belts are all made in Germany which may or may not be a good thing.

I’ll keep looking.

I've loaned my 100 mm Makita sander to folks and in return I ask them to repay me in belts so I have quite a few belts sitting around often for years at a time before use. For my 915 x 50 and 1220 x 50 finisher belts I usually buy 3 packs of the same grit and a few years ago a MW forum member have me about 30 belts for this machine so many of these are years old before use. For my 2000 x 150 sander I also buy 3 packs of belts, so belts 2 and 3 in the pack might be 2-3 years old before they get used. Despite this use pattern I don't recall any new or near new belt ever coming undone at the join - the only ones that have done this are well used and probably have been overheated but I agree that others have seen this on new belts. I wonder if an environmental issues like heat and humidity are involved?

I want to make some for my smaller ryobi stationary sander out of drum sander strips. There's always some good patches left. I haven done it yet but have seen iron on clothes repair patches used reasonably successfully by an old mate.

Cheers

Bryan

Originally Posted by BobL

......Despite this use pattern I don't recall any new or near new belt ever coming undone at the join - the only ones that have done this are well used and probably have been overheated but I agree that others have seen this on new belts. I wonder if an environmental issues like heat and humidity are involved?

I think mostly it comes back to the cost v quality issue and / or using the wrong grit belt. I haven't used my old Makita belt sander in many years, however when we were using it very regularly we realized that "oils ain't oils, Sol." Pay a few bucks extra and get 2 to 3 times the life out of a belt. We had some of the cheapies last perhaps a few minutes, some maybe 2 revolutions before the join let go.

I also am a firm believer in you get what you pay for, within reason. By that I mean that you pay the most you can afford and/or the value you determine it to be to achieve the desired result. Totally agree with the “oils ain’t oils, Sol” sentiment.

As I said above, belts made in Germany, not German brand made in the country which has placed enormous tariffs on our products. They were and still are stored in their original packaging in a drawer in an enclosed cabinet. The shed does get hot in summer but still below ambient, as I store my glues and spirit stains in closed polystyrene fruit boxes, perhaps the belts could benefit from the same, it seems a little over the top but possibly worth more thought.

Iron-on adhesive cloth tape? The stuff used to patch clothes?

I've had a few unused, spare belts 'let go' on hot days. And iron-tape requires higher iron temps than I like to run my sanders at. (If I want a good finish, anyway! )

If you have a few of these sanding strips laying around, what have you got lose? The tape is cheap and readily available. A perfect opportunity to do !SCIENCE! on it!

Originally Posted by Bob38S

Yes, they are “oldish”, can’t recall as to when.

How do you fix yours?

I wouldn't bother trying to fix mine if the glue let go. I've had a couple of belts let go and it's not pretty.

How old is oldish? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? All glues break down eventually. The problem with trying to repair them is you are likely applying the new adhesive over the old broken-down adhesive, unless you can find a way of removing all the residue.

My strategy now is to just buy a few decent quality belts as I need them.