leather belt splice

Speaking as a part-time leatherworker...

Waxed cotton thread. Seriously. A glued joint is likely to be too brittle to hold for long - I wouldn't be overly surprised if it exploded the first time the joint crosses a radius smaller than about twice the length of the lapped section.

Avoid synthetics, as they'll tend to be "slippy", particularly if they manage to stop on a small pulley. And as an added bonus, if that pulley happens to be the drive, you'll be re-stitching your splice in no time 'cause of the thread melting and letting go. Stick with waxed cotton.

Skive it down to a good long taper (at least 2-3 times the width of the belt long) on each end on both sides of the joint - one side skived on the "inside", the other on the "outside" surface - lay 'em up as a lap joint, and put in at least two, more if you've got the width for it, lines of stitching that run parallel to the edges, and at least the full length of the spliced zone plus a couple inches on either end. "Sink" each stitch (Try to pull it below the belt's surface, and/or stitch into a shallow groove you've pre-cut on the inside of the loop) and when you're done, if you've got the room to get the loop open far enough (or turn it "inside out"), open it up, inside facing you, lay it across your anvil (I presume you've got one... if not find/use a similar surface) on top of a *wrung almost dry* piece of cloth, and use a fairly light rawhide, wood, or plastic mallet to pound the bejeebers out of it. Not so hard you thin out or split the leather, but hard enough to "seat" the lap against itself.

*SLIGHTLY* loose stitiching is a good thing in this case, as it will give the lap a bit more flexibility to pass the pulleys without "thumping" - A super-tight stitch will produce a lap with less ability to conform to the shape of the pulley, so instead of travelling smoothly around, it will tend to either "stick" or "slip", depending on how rigid it ends up being. Both cases will give you a "thump" and/or erratic "grab-slip" misbehavior as the joint crosses a pulley.

The best stuff is a contact adhesive called Barge Cement.

This is the stuff shoemakers use to glue new soles on and it is seriously tough stuff.

I've tried some other brands of contact adhesives with less than stellar results. (not to say that some brand isn't as good, just that the ones I used weren't.)

In a pinch, I used some Gorilla Glue. It is a foaming polyurethane glue sold to woodworkers. I wiped a very, very thin layer on both sides of the skive and clamped the joint over night.

That was a couple years ago, and there is no sign of failing.

Paul K. Dickman

This is news to the belt manufacturers - how do you think they get belting in lengths bigger than one cow unit long? They glue the skived joints.

Leather belt cement used to be sold by McMaster Carr, and that's what I've always used on my SB machines. The barge cement is supposedly also available at shoemaker's stores and is reported to perform fine.

Jim

William:

I was in the same situation, and finally opted to buy a new, reasonably-priced belt with a metal splice (textile composite belt, pin-and-loop splice) from Kyle McGowan. His website is at

Email at the address given on the website for a quote.

Shipping time was a bit long, but the belt has done a fine job on my SB 14".

Best regards -- terry

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 09:31:06 -0500, "Robert Swinney" calmly ranted:

Why use a chipped piece of flat rock when knives are available? Do you make you own soap, detergent, toothpaste, etc?

One problem with hide glue is temperature. It's intolerant.

Shoe Goo, E6000, etc. are all great sticky stuffs.

What I have always wonderd is, if they make glue from horses how do they tell ahead of time which are the sticky ones?

Errol Groff

Thanks Errol....

Gunner, wiping potato chips and Mt. Dew off his monitor....

It's not unwise to remember that Mother Nature is essentially a murderous, sneakly, promiscuous bitch who has been trying to kill you since your conception.

Eventually she will succeed, perhaps with the help of your fellow man.

Life consists in putting off the inevitable as long as possible and taking what good and joy you can before her success.

Whether you attribute that situation to evolutionary forces, a fallen nature after Adam and Eve screwed the pooch, or whatever, it's no less true.

Be friendly, pleasant, unaggressive, and honest toward all and be prepared to ignore, avoid, or even kill anyone who is otherwise toward you. Being ready doesn't mean eager, just ready. What true friends are found in life will undestand and accept that fundamental rule of human interaction." John Husvar

instructions

The kids in South America seem to like "Resistol" by H.B. Fuller. Unfortunately, they liked it a little too much so the company had to stop manufacturing it.

I think that it might depend on the pattern of cutting. I could picture a spiral which could be pretty long (though it might vary in toughness as it passes under the belly side) until you get to the milk production factory, at least.

Enjoy, DoN.

Those eating rubber plants naturally !

Martin

Oooops! Strike *don't* below.

Right, but then you have to configure the lathe so the belt still runs in a cow-shaped spiral during use!

Jim

I wonder, do they have a special lathe to skin a cow in that fashion?

I have some Barge Cement and am looking for a thinner that I can use in it. The stuff is old andI don't want to throw it out. Id rather thin it and keep on using it

Any>>>

Hide glue is rigid and won't last any time on a belt. Rabbit skin glue is flexible, so much more likely to last - especially with maybe

10% glycerine added.

But I'd use a modern glue, like Evo-Stik 528.