Salvaging sanding belts

[Longone]

I came into a small amount (20) 4x36 sanding belts, problem is that they are old and the adhesive used to join the belt is no longer pliable and is brittle. As soon as you put the belt on the sander the joint separates.
Does anyone know of an adhesive that will hold or are they junk?

Thanks,  Longone

[J Henry]

 When I have belts like that, I cut them and use them on my palm sander or my 1/2 sheet sander

[Longone]

That is certainly an option, I should have a lifetime supply.

[dogcatcher]

Paul Hamler has a tutorial on his site about making sanding belts.  My guess is you could "bust" the current glue joint and follow his tutorial to glue them back together.  It starts about a 1/3 to 1/2 way down this link.  https://hamlertools.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Small-Sanding-Block/

If that doesn't work, I have cut them up ad used them like sheet sandpaper. 

[freddiej]

Sanding belts come apart at the joint's adhesive strip after a few years of storage, particularly in a humid environment like a basement shop. To salvage a belt, remove what is left of the joiner strip, apply about 6-8 inches of fiberglas-stranded strapping tape to the back of the belt evenly spaced over the joint with the ends tightly together. Be sure that the belt ends are aligned against a straight surface so that the belt will run true on the sander. As added insurance against coming apart, apply a small amount of Acra-Glas gel or other epoxy to the joint on the abrasive side to smooth down the edges so they won't catch on the tool rest . This method works great on my 1 x 42" belts. Both the tape and belts are exactly one inch wide. Apply multiple strips of tape side by side for wider belts.

[J Henry]

  I have glued one belt inside an other just be sure the splices do not line up,Rubber glue works nice.Use a worn out belt put inside the good one.

[thecapgunkid]

I can't speak toward the rest of the advice here, and my 30" belt sander has ACE hardware belts that are too cheap and disposable.  However, on my shoemaking rollers, I have to cut a strip off a roll of various belt grades every so often and replace it on the wooden rollers.  I use contact cement, and my advice is this;

If you do use contact cement, it works best on roughed up surfaces where applied to both surfaces and dried with the heat of an ordinary light bulb...say five to ten minutes or so... You get one shot at putting the surfaces together ( such as the two billets of your belt) but that joint is likely to hold for a good long time, especially when  pounded by a rubber mallet.

Hope this helps and,
Don't shoot yore eye out, kid

The Capgun Kid