Turntable belt repairs
Posted by: Rockingdoc on 21 September 2002
For those of you with old obscure turntables (I have a cupboard full of friends' cast-offs), it can be difficult/impossible to obtain new belts to fit.
In fact my recent frustration arose because Mad Max has not been responding to my requests to sell me more Townsend Rock belts (which go hard and break up within months).
So I tried shortening old LP12 belts by cutting out a section with a new sharp Stanley blade, and gluing the ends together with a very fine line of gel-type superglue on one end only. After drying, the surplus glue can be gently sanded off, leaving an almost invisible mend. The join can't be felt on running the belt through fingers, and certainly can't be seen or heard when running on the turntable.
I have done a couple now, and the sound from the joined belt is superior to the original Townsend belts (round cross-section).
My original attempts with the belt ends slightly overlapped to give a larger bond area, then sanded flat, were a dismal failure.
In fact my recent frustration arose because Mad Max has not been responding to my requests to sell me more Townsend Rock belts (which go hard and break up within months).
So I tried shortening old LP12 belts by cutting out a section with a new sharp Stanley blade, and gluing the ends together with a very fine line of gel-type superglue on one end only. After drying, the surplus glue can be gently sanded off, leaving an almost invisible mend. The join can't be felt on running the belt through fingers, and certainly can't be seen or heard when running on the turntable.
I have done a couple now, and the sound from the joined belt is superior to the original Townsend belts (round cross-section).
My original attempts with the belt ends slightly overlapped to give a larger bond area, then sanded flat, were a dismal failure.