Laser-cut wood clamp for fusing your own belts with urethane belt material

Did you read my latest automton-making tips article? If not, it shows you how to fuse urethane belt material to make belts of any size for your mechanical projects. The method desribed works well and is much, much cheaper than purchasing a belt welding kit made for the job. Still, the method I present could be improved. Probably the trickiest part is pressing together the two ends of the just-melted belt material. If you are just a little off, or the ends slide, you will end up with a lumpy belt.

Michael Henriksen over at BustedBricks.com read my article and came up with a way to clamp the belts during the process. He's now offering a laser-cut wood clamp kit for a very reasonable £6 or about $9.00. Not only does it make holding the belts easier, but his new clamp allows you to use a soldering iron to melt the ends of the belting. Here's a shot of the clamp in action.

As you can see from the photo, the clamp makes the process easier and more consistent. It also allows you to use a a tool that many people already own or can get very easily. Check out this selection of soldering irons if you don't already have one. A basic model will do, though you might consider getting more than one tip and dedicating one to melting belt material.

Here is where you can get the new welding clamp for polyurethane belts.

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