braat
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2016
Posts: 350
|
Post by braat on Sept 21, 2019 18:43:43 GMT -5
Has anybody had any success repairing the Thumler rotary tumbler belts like the one in the photo? Not that it matters but I think the same belt is used on the A-R2, A-R12, and Model B and maybe others. I tried gluing with crazy glue as suggested from a google search but that doesn't work...at least the way I did it which was to apply glue and hold the belt ends together by hand for 30 seconds. I bought same size rubber O rings but they break after a few days and ordering new ones takes forever around here. IMG_4709 by Glen Braaten, on Flickr
|
|
|
Post by pauls on Sept 21, 2019 21:29:37 GMT -5
Try welding it.
Get a razor blade and cut a small piece off each end to remove any glue residue and dirt. Clamp a clean old knife in your vice or get someone to hold it for you. heat a section of the knife blade with in a gas flame or spirit lamp, don't get any soot on the working area.. Get it good and hot, it doesn't need to be red hot, just enough to melt the plastic ends of your belt. Hold both ends of the belt on either side of the blade until they melt a bit then slide them off and immediately bring the ends together, don't force them too much or you will squeeze the melted stuff out and have a poor join. Hold for a few seconds without moving the join. Job done.
|
|
braat
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2016
Posts: 350
|
Post by braat on Sept 21, 2019 22:42:42 GMT -5
Try welding it. Get a razor blade and cut a small piece off each end to remove any glue residue and dirt. Clamp a clean old knife in your vice or get someone to hold it for you. heat a section of the knife blade with in a gas flame or spirit lamp, don't get any soot on the working area.. Get it good and hot, it doesn't need to be red hot, just enough to melt the plastic ends of your belt. Hold both ends of the belt on either side of the blade until they melt a bit then slide them off and immediately bring the ends together, don't force them too much or you will squeeze the melted stuff out and have a poor join. Hold for a few seconds without moving the join. Job done. Thanks for the idea! I found a youtube video (below)where the guy is doing it basically the same way you suggested. I was thinking maybe making a simple jig to hold the belt ends and then using a soldering gun with the flat cutting tip to melt the ends...
|
|
|
Post by Rockoonz on Sept 21, 2019 23:05:00 GMT -5
Problem is I believe the orings they use for belts are polyurethane, which is not a thermoplastic. They're pretty cheap from Thumler, or measure dross section diameter and length/3.1416 and take the info to a parts store, look through their orings for a match.
|
|
braat
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2016
Posts: 350
|
Post by braat on Sept 22, 2019 12:32:41 GMT -5
Success! I did it the same way the guy in the video below did it. You can see in the photo I didn't get the ends aligned perfectly and I ground off too much of the excess but it seems strong enough and is still going after 30 minutes on the tumbler so we'll see how long it lasts. But now I know I can at least do a temporary fix till I get new ones....Thanks for putting me onto this pauls ! IMG_4717 by Glen Braaten, on Flickr
|
|
|
Post by pauls on Sept 22, 2019 19:22:57 GMT -5
That orange urethane belting is cheap as chips and fairly easy to source, now you know how to weld it grab a few feet of it for future use.
|
|