Making your own linisher abrasive band belts from a bulk roll of it .

[DAPPH]

I'd do different sample joint types on one belt, run it and see which one is best when the worst breaks.

A long champhered / tapered scarfed joint will give the longest length & width of glued up joint so it's deffo got to be a diagonal feathered scarfed joint just like most of the decent commercial belts , it's the type of glue or hot melt glue that is critical to my mind. Hence me waiting for the Chinese hot melt tape to arrive . ( If it does not , I already have some very sticky long life pliable rubberized heat curable sealing tape to play with .

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

Has anyone tried a chemically cured chloroprene (neoprene) adhesive?

"Bostik 2404" or perhaps better "3M 1300L TF High Temperature" jump out as being obvious choices.

Both do lose strength above 107°C but they have such an ungodly amount of sheer strength to begin with, that I suspect they'd do just fine up to a temperature high enough that the belt itself would be struggling.

 

[RichardM]

A long champhered / tapered scarfed joint will give the longest length & width of glued up joint so it's deffo got to be a diagonal feathered scarfed joint just like most of the decent commercial belts , it's the type of glue or hot melt glue that is critical to my mind. Hence me waiting for the Chinese hot melt tape to arrive . ( If it does not , I already have some very sticky long life pliable rubberized heat curable sealing tape to play with .

Certainly diagonal and feathered, but I would also monitor joint temperature and time at that temp if possible. Thinking glue viscosity, penetration and over temp maybe causing a brittle joint.

 

[ukracer]

Having just viewed the how to do it Tube video that Gaz put up.....
I think I will make a simple 16 mm x 16 mm by 55 mm long billet of aluminium and drill it longitudinally it to take my small Antex electric soldering iron to make a simple hot melt heater plate .
As I can easily read the temp for when the tape melts ( 263 oC ??? ) & fuses in a test piece of new belting using my recently acquired digital thermal infrared temp gauge .

Link to the temp gauge please?

 

[DAPPH]

Has anyone tried a chemically cured chloroprene (neoprene) adhesive?

"Bostik 2404" or perhaps better "3M 1300L TF High Temperature" jump out as being obvious choices.

Both do lose strength above 107°C but they have such an ungodly amount of sheer strength to begin with, that I suspect they'd do just fine up to a temperature high enough that the belt itself would be struggling.

I don't think any belt I have ever used has gone anywhere near 100 oC for much over a few milliseconds as the air movement cools it as it goes round ..but I will do a few digital infra red checks after getting something nice & hot on a belt .

 

[DAPPH]

Link to the temp gauge please?

it's a £14 Lidl medical grade one ( Medisana ) that will supposedly measure from minus 20 oC to plus 360 oC or so .

 

[DAPPH]

Certainly diagonal and feathered, but I would also monitor joint temperature and time at that temp if possible. Thinking glue viscosity, penetration and over temp maybe causing a brittle joint.

My hope is to record a series of tests using many differing jointing materials at five or six different temperatures and see what hold but is pliable .
Doing it by using the monitored heated aluminium ingot with a plate of aluminium below two thicknesses to act as a heat sink to cool things off fairly quickly

I seem top recall that black nylon UV resistant zip ties are 175 to 185 oC when extruded and they are quite flexible so a tad higher might allow them to fully infuse into the denuded belting if clamped to the heat sink directly after the best melt point is achieved .
It's certainly going to be interesting when I get started in a few days time .

Just googled for the typical melting point :-
Nylon produces a high-strength zip tie with good thermal and abrasion resistance. It also resists fuels and most chemicals. Nylon 6/6, the grade most often used for cable ties, meets UL94 V-2 flammability ratings and can operate in temperatures as low as -40°F. Typically, a nylon zip-tie melting point is 185°F.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

I seem top recall that black nylon UV resistant zip ties are 175 to 185 oC when extruded and they are quite flexible so a tad higher might allow them to fully infuse into the denuded belting if clamped to the heat sink directly after the best melt point is achieved .

Nylon melts at +230°C, but like many polymers is often extruded in an amorphous state where it's flowable, but not a true liquid... So you might need to go hotter than 180°C to get adequate penetration into your substrate.


The behaviour of polymers when remelted can be quite complicated, not dissimilar to metallurgy.

Nylon has multiple crystalline structures which are rigid, and flexible nylon products are in the semi-amorphous state, with different crystals embedded in an amorphous matrix.

The formation of different crystal structures is dictated by processing temperature, mechanical processing during cooling, and water content (it's hygroscopic).

In practical terms:

- Keeping it hot too long will result in the loss of water, causing it to form more and stiffer crystals

- The final strength can be increased by applying moderate tension to the joint as it cools through the glass transition temperature (this creates sheer stress between the individual polymer chains, dictating the conformation they solidify in)

- Applying too much tension could result in excessive crystallisation, which will increase stiffness.

- Rapid cooling will function a lot like the quenching of steel, and "set" the crystalline structure by taking it below the transition temperature before the molecules can re-arrange, this could be helpful or a hindrance depending on the desired properties and starting point temperature.

 

[DAPPH]

Have seen loads of videos ^ tube clips about making belts .
I've chosen various grits of red aluminium oxide on a cloth backing as my small Parkside linisher is also fitted with it , hand book declares suitable for wood plastic , steel or other metal .

Over the years I had it I've ground /polished steel , thin snip cut rough edge stainless steel m brass cast iron aluminium Delrin and wood on it found it good for sharpening high speed steel twist drills & lathe tool steel cutters too

My first 107 inch long 2 inch wide linisher belt was made yesterday evening , using a joint of rubberized metalized 2 pack epoxy from China , feathering both contact faces on a diagonal cut across the width , clamped up overnight out it the cold mancupboard and now in the airing cupboard for a full 48 hr cure .

Hope to make the second version in the same grit using heat fused jointing tap on a diagonal butt joint ... still awaiting the heating device from China

 

[Turbo]

I was using some araldite epoxy a few weeks ago and I let the leftover glue cure on the mixing pad for a few days.
I was surprised at how flexible a 4mm layer of it was. I reckon it would be very suitable for sanding belts.

 

[DAPPH]

I was using some araldite epoxy a few weeks ago and I let the leftover glue cure on the mixing pad for a few days.
I was surprised at how flexible a 4mm layer of it was. I reckon it would be very suitable for sanding belts.

There might be problems on finger linishers if you use epoxy as they tend to have tiny rollers at the top ends so might fatigue the epoxy fairly quickly against a big machine with three or four inch dia rollers /