Joining Polyurethane Belts -- An Easier Way (Good alternative to gears for 3D prints)

Hey everyone, Polyurethane belts are a great alternative to gears when you need to transfer speed or torque from one shaft to another. I've used this in some of my windmill designs before, as it makes it very easy to change gear ratios on the fly, especially in tandem with a tensioner, as I teach how to do in my other video.
I'm tempted to, at some point, make a sort of harmonic drawing machine, something in the style of James Nolan Gandy. These belts are perfect for something like that.
Hope you learned something new! Check my other video if you're interested in modeling these pulleys, wheels, and tensioners in CAD.
3mm Polyurethane Belt:
amzn.to/3Hup7r6
#polyurethane #belt #drive #gears #gearratio #engineering #diy #howto #pulley #tensioner #3dprint #3dprinted #3dprinting #3dprinter

[@enerconfan9138]

What I usually do is press the two ends together and wait for it to cool down. Then I use scissors to cut off the excess material. I use these belts to drive spinning weapons in combat robots and never had one break at the joint.

[@aidan5320]

What weight class and diameter belt have you used?

[@enerconfan9138]

@@aidan5320 3mm belt on a Beetleweight. For a Feather I'd probably use twin 5mm belts.

[@aidan5320]

@@enerconfan9138 Thank you!

[@samcheeseman7413]

Nice work! So will these kind of belts work just as well as toothed timing belts and pulleys because of the rough surface? Cheers

[@evanbarnes9984]

Haha, I've done this exact method for joining different colors of Paracord, bare fingers and all!

[@christophersfactory]

Haha! Glad to know I’m not insane. I was worried I was going to get roasted in the comments so I made sure to put plenty of “I’m fine, but you should use gloves” notes 😂

[@AB-lc8be]

Great video! I an interested in using these for a 3d printer. Wouldn’t it be better if the tensioning screw was parallel to the movement of big pulley? That way, it wouldn’t get loose over time, and by turning the screw you actually adjust the tension..