nik
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2019
Posts: 315
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Post by nik on Dec 16, 2020 7:28:39 GMT -5
Hello again. The last time I was using the grinder, I had a partial failure of the tape joint on the 3000 belt. The seam was a tape backed wavy but joint, and a few of the fingers disbonded and separated from the backing. Not a total failure, close enough to make it unusable. A new belt is ordered, but it is hard for me to just throw away something that is still useful, particularly with shipping times and prices being what they are. After cleaning everything with acetone, I made a repair to the old belt with araldite 2011 epoxy by masking off the joint parallel to the seam, and covering the back side with mylar tape. I worked the epoxy into the seam with a toothpick, then clamped everything together between waxed flat steel plates and a pair of c clamps. After the epoxy had cured, the tape peeled off pretty easily, with a little bit of glue squeeze out along the edges that needed to be trimmed off. After all was said and done, it left a strip of epoxy about 3/4" wide and as thick as the mylar tape on the working face of the belt, but with a 3000 grit belt on an expanding drum, it is bearly noticeable. So far I have cut a couple cabs on it, and it seems to be holding up well. I will post updates after it sees a bit more use, but fingers crossed for now.
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Post by greig on Dec 16, 2020 9:03:12 GMT -5
Good deal. I never would have thought to use epoxy as I would have thought it to be brittle.
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Post by mohs on Dec 16, 2020 9:39:55 GMT -5
Right on nik
Your technique is excellent
It can be a trick getting the seam squared together. Being that once you clamp it’s in the blind
I’ve had some success putting belts together can say Gorilla epoxy worked well for me Never heard of Araldite
I’ve got an abiding interest in epoxies
Seam on
Ed
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nik
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2019
Posts: 315
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Post by nik on Dec 16, 2020 19:23:55 GMT -5
Good deal. I never would have thought to use epoxy as I would have thought it to be brittle. The 2011 remains somewhat flexible, if memory serves, it has somewhere around 9% elasticity post cure. With a 90 minute set time, it is fairly easy to work with too. I originally got it to resurface my 280 soft wheel with 220 diamond powder. Hopefully it will work in that role as well. I think that as long as I keep the coating reasonably thin, it will remain flexible enough.
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Dec 17, 2020 9:19:08 GMT -5
Well done Nik! Epoxy is an interesting product. I have recoated a soft wheel with epoxy and diamond powder using regular epoxy. It's the same brand Lynn zarguy use in his tutorial (Sorry I forget the brand at the moment). I don't know the properties of the hardness once cured. I'm curious how your epoxy will work.
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