Has anyone tried gluing the toothed timing belt material used on printers to make an endless belt. If so what glue did you us and did it last long.
yes, as field repairs. But they were neoprene (Gates brand) belts where you could split and interleave the layers and I used contact cement. But on a 3d printer, these belts are all single-layer (that I’ve seen) but also the belts on most are reciprocating. The belt is usually on with a joint and is continuous from that joint around the pulleys to the other side of the joint, the side of the pulleys that is opposite the driven component can have a lap joint where you can overlap, and if it won’t go around the idler Pulley (the one without the teeth in it). so the belt is in 2 pieces the cog side down on the side with the teeth on the pulley and the toothed side out around the idler side because it doesn’t matter there if there are teeth, that way you have 2 nice flat surfaces you can scuff up and bond together. Use as much of the belt as you can but not so much that the joint goes near the pulleys when cycling. Contact cement works if you put it on both, scuffed, and surfaces left long enough to be almost dry to the touch then clamped together for 24 hours. It should hold really well. The one caveat with this besides don’t bend the joint around the pulleys is that the more tension you put on the belt the more tendency for the joint to rotate and not stay in plane. And if the belt has to fit through a tight space it could cause trouble. This rotation is also how this joint will ultimately fail, so it’s not a permanent solution but can get you out of a jam.
The other option is a mechanical clamp piece that you might be able to design and print that engages the teeth and will act like a joiner. you can actually buy these but you could also print something I’m sure would work. That would be a more permanent solution to the gluing.