Cutting Belt Width Down?

[s28400]

Hey guys,
I'm trying to buy a HTD 5M belt that is 12mm wide and has 43 teeth, however I can't find them anywhere and would have to do a custom order with a large minimum quantity. This would be feasible in the future if I made kits or something, but for now I only need a handful to test. I can however find the belt in a 15mm width. Is it possible to cut these down to 12mm in a precise manner? Does anyone have experience with this?
Thanks,
Josh

 

[sl33py]

i thought for sure polybelt.com would have some, but i couldn't find 12mm wide belts...

I would get some 9mm belts in the meantime - they should work fine on your wider gears. The only other 12mm setups i can recall is enertion's. You might reach out to Jason and see if he has one for you.

HTH - GL!

 

[s28400]

Yeah I saw those, unfortunately they have too many teeth. He must have bulk ordered them custom.

 

[s28400]

I may have spoken too soon, I think http://www.bbman.com/ will take care of me. I gave them a call and they said there is no minimum order quantity, but there is a minimum price of $35. As long as the prices for each belt aren't crazy I think this will work!

Also on a side note, to anyone who is curious how belts are made, here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXvBeQMKIEI
Around 0:15, they show how they cut the belts to width.

 

[dashimsta]

I never understood why anyone including enertion would want to have a 12mm wide belt. 12mm isnt a standard size, its an oddball

15mm is the width to go with

 

[sl33py]

@dashimsta - i don't know - being a bigger guy dual 12mm might be a great setup. I've run dual 9mm and liked it, but the extra surface area can only help, and i know i could squeeze an extra 3mm on a dual rear setup...

I ride my GF's single 9mm setup and it does click for me when hard braking - wonder if 12mm would fix? On my marbel the 15mm doesn't click, so the middle 12mm might also be a great compromise for a single setup.

I like options. As long as i can find belts reasonably priced...

 

[Njakts]

I would try to cut 15mm belt. Mount it on pulleys and cut it while spinning. Maybe with pizza knife or paper knife...
But if 12mm belts are not standart and hard to get, where did you find your pulleys?

 

[chuttney1]

My opinion is the use of custom width belts is only useful if the cost and benefit for a custom product is worth it. Now, it is easier to use the standard made stuff since its made in large quantities for less to the buyer. From an engineering standpoint, I can use 9mm width belts as long it does not exceed its power rating resulting in reduce belt lifespan. The same rules apply to all belt widths. You have the option of cutting it yourself to your desired width if you need to.

 

[s28400]

So the reason I'm doing 12mm is because I am designing and building a custom dual truck mounting system. I am machining my own pulleys and I wanted to go with 12mm was the maximum width I could fit with the dual setup. The guys over at bb-man are cutting the belt to size for me and charging only a few bucks for each belt.