The Forestry Forum

I have some very expensive long sanding belts that the glue is
coming apart from age. Doing a google search I see that some
people have luck with book binding tape. I hate to waste all the
new belts that I have and I would like to find a good way to fix
them. Any ideas ?

I know what you mean.  I had some 2x24 belt sander belts that came apart while fairly new.  I ended up switching to 3M purple belts and haven't had one come apart yet.

Quote from: Kbeitz on December 22, 2016, 07:47:23 AM
I have some very expensive long sanding belts that the glue is
coming apart from age. Doing a google search I see that some
people have luck with book binding tape. I hate to waste all the
new belts that I have and I would like to find a good way to fix
them. Any ideas ?

That would probably work.  That is some tough stuff.  Make sure to get 3M brand.  We have some and use it for stuff on occasion.  It never seems to get brittle, is very sticky and pretty thick (compared to packing tape).

I've had mixed results trying to repair or make belts.  If the glue has just let go, try re-gluing with super glue.  Make top and bottom wood cauls and cover with packing tape.  Clamp the joint for a hour and try it out.  The glue seems to hold ok.

My edge sander uses 6" X 132" belts.  It came with about 50 old belts.  The joints look good but break maybe after 5 minutes or sometimes they will go for a few weeks.  A broke 60 grit belt that long flapping around is not pleasant.

I tried making shorter belts by making lap joints and gluing with super glue.  I ground off the abrasive on one end before gluing.  They worked but I still had a bump, bump, bump, as the joint came around.  Not good.  Also tried filament tape with poor results.  It was plenty strong but not sticky enough.

In the end I figured it wasn't worth the aggravation messing with them, so I just buy a couple of belts at a time now.

We all hate to see a material resource go to waste, but what is time and aggravation worth?  It hurts, but cut them up before you ruin a build over trying to save a few bucks.  I feel your pain!

Carpet tape

Have not tried it, but an old guy, older than me :D told me when his have been on the shelf a while he wipes the joint with glycol to keep the glue from getting hard. He was a smart old guy, but I have not tried it myself.