Hi all

hoping someone will know the answer...
I have bought some reddish/orange hollow drive belting which is intended to
be joined 'in situ' with a small brass joiner. However, when i got it the
dealer was in the process of moving, and didnt have the joiners to hand. (
moved already..). However, the salesguy said that it was possible to join by
melting the ends together with eg, a soldering iron, and in fact this was a
stronger join.

After numerous attempts, i give up at least until i get advice from a higher
authority ( you guys!). I can melt the ends easily enough but it just won't
weld together.

Anyone actually done it? How?

thanks

russ

I use an orange polyurethane belt (no hole) which you join with heat. A
soldering iron works fine for heating, and the resulting join is amazingly
strong.

Catches are that the belt has to be hot, but not too hot (bubbling is not
good). The joint has to be made instantly and held until the joint has
cooled (1 minute plus). The joint will also fail if there is any dirt in it.

Dave

x wrote:
Hi all

hoping someone will know the answer...
I have bought some reddish/orange hollow drive belting which is
intended to be joined 'in situ' with a small brass joiner. However,
when i got it the dealer was in the process of moving, and didnt have
the joiners to hand. ( moved already..). However, the salesguy said
that it was possible to join by melting the ends together with eg, a
soldering iron, and in fact this was a stronger join.

After numerous attempts, i give up at least until i get advice from a
higher authority ( you guys!). I can melt the ends easily enough but
it just won't weld together.

Anyone actually done it? How?

thanks

russ

I'm not familiar with welding hollow belting, but solid round urethane
belting can be heat welded with the proper tools.
The setup I've used was a jig/fixture to hold the ends aligned
properly, with one jaw that would slide. Then the hot heating iron
(with a flat plate end) was placed between the ends.
The ends were brought together, with the hot surface between them, and
when the ends showed that they're melting, the hot tip is slid out, as
the ends are pressed together.

When the belting cools, the excess material at the bond was trimmed
away, and the belt was ready for service.

The solid belting length was purposely made for a tight fit, in that
the belt length needed to be sized smaller than a V-belt. The extra
tension of the urethane belt would prevent slipping of the drive
pulleys.

I would expect it to be difficult to weld hollow belting (if it's even
intended to be welded), as pressing the melted ends together would
likely cause wall shifting or collapse, creating an uneven or not
uniform weld. I think it could be easier if the center was filled with
the same compound, maybe some scraps cut to fill the void.
Overall, it's probably best to join the ends with the method that's
recommended by the manufacturer.

WB
...............

x wrote:
Hi all

hoping someone will know the answer...
I have bought some reddish/orange hollow drive belting which is intended to
be joined 'in situ' with a small brass joiner. However, when i got it the
dealer was in the process of moving, and didnt have the joiners to hand. (
moved already..). However, the salesguy said that it was possible to join by
melting the ends together with eg, a soldering iron, and in fact this was a
stronger join.

After numerous attempts, i give up at least until i get advice from a higher
authority ( you guys!). I can melt the ends easily enough but it just won't
weld together.

Anyone actually done it? How?

thanks

russ

"x" wrote in message
...
Hi all

hoping someone will know the answer...
I have bought some reddish/orange hollow drive
belting which is intended to
be joined 'in situ' with a small brass joiner.
However, when i got it the
dealer was in the process of moving, and didnt
have the joiners to hand. (
moved already..). However, the salesguy said
that it was possible to join by
melting the ends together with eg, a soldering
iron, and in fact this was a
stronger join.

After numerous attempts, i give up at least
until i get advice from a higher
authority ( you guys!). I can melt the ends
easily enough but it just won't
weld together.

Anyone actually done it? How?

thanks

russ

I don't think they hollow ones are meant to
joined by welding. There is a short brass joiner
with a couple of barbs on each end of it ( like a
hose fitting) that are pushed into the ends. The
solid urethane belts can be welded by placing a
strip of clean sheet metal in a vice. Heat the
end of the metal with a torch , then push the two
ends against the hot metal strip. When they
melt,slide them together so they slip off the
metal strip and onto each other. Hold them firmly
in position till they cool , then trim off the
flash. There are special tools for this
job,including a Teflon coated heating iron and a
jig which holds the ends firmly aligned and at the
correct pressure. They are well with the cost if
you are doing a lot of these joins,but are too
expensive for "a one off job"

In article ,
says...
Hi all

hoping someone will know the answer...
I have bought some reddish/orange hollow drive belting which is intended to
be joined 'in situ' with a small brass joiner. However, when i got it the
dealer was in the process of moving, and didnt have the joiners to hand. (
moved already..). However, the salesguy said that it was possible to join by
melting the ends together with eg, a soldering iron, and in fact this was a
stronger join.

After numerous attempts, i give up at least until i get advice from a higher
authority ( you guys!). I can melt the ends easily enough but it just won't
weld together.

Anyone actually done it? How?


I've had good luck with a heat gun. As someone else mentioned, the end
has to get hot, but not too hot. When the cut end gets glossy and swells
very slightly seems to be about the right time to make the join. A small
v-block may be helpul in getting the ends properly aligned. I've found a
Scotch-brite wheel to be the best thing for trimming the flash from the
joint.

Among the real belt welders I've used, the best was one that used a
small radiant heating element to heat the belt ends. It was easier to
use and seemed to do a better job than the soldering iron with teflon
paddle type.

The belting you have should weld just fine, I've welded all sorts of
urethane this way. If you want really nice welded round belts at
reasonable price (though there is a minumum), these folks do an
excellent job...

http://www.pyramidbelts.com/

Ned Simmons

thanks everyone!
i'll try again.

(it's complicated by having to join 'in situ' to avoid dismantling lathe
headstock....i've been practicing on a short offcut)

regards

russell
"Ned Simmons" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
Hi all

hoping someone will know the answer...
I have bought some reddish/orange hollow drive belting which is intended
to
be joined 'in situ' with a small brass joiner. However, when i got it
the
dealer was in the process of moving, and didnt have the joiners to hand.
(
moved already..). However, the salesguy said that it was possible to
join by
melting the ends together with eg, a soldering iron, and in fact this
was a
stronger join.

After numerous attempts, i give up at least until i get advice from a
higher
authority ( you guys!). I can melt the ends easily enough but it just
won't
weld together.

Anyone actually done it? How?


I've had good luck with a heat gun. As someone else mentioned, the end
has to get hot, but not too hot. When the cut end gets glossy and swells
very slightly seems to be about the right time to make the join. A small
v-block may be helpul in getting the ends properly aligned. I've found a
Scotch-brite wheel to be the best thing for trimming the flash from the
joint.

Among the real belt welders I've used, the best was one that used a
small radiant heating element to heat the belt ends. It was easier to
use and seemed to do a better job than the soldering iron with teflon
paddle type.

The belting you have should weld just fine, I've welded all sorts of
urethane this way. If you want really nice welded round belts at
reasonable price (though there is a minumum), these folks do an
excellent job...

http://www.pyramidbelts.com/

Ned Simmons

snip
(it's complicated by having to join 'in situ' to avoid dismantling lathe
headstock....I've been practicing on a short offcut)snip

You may want to make a bracket to hold each end, something simple from two
pairs of vicegrips and a bit of fencing wire should do, and do the same
while practicing on your offcuts.

Hope this helps,
Peter

Ned Simmons wrote:
I've had good luck with a heat gun.

Second that - I was struggling to get a good joint, using "hot knife"
method, until someone showed me the heatgun way.