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I got the idea of looking to see what it cost to make homemade sandpaper belts for my belt sander would be. For me less than a $1 per belt. Math being about $30 for 20-25 Yards of sandpaper (roll) and $10 for epoxy. Around a good belt is $2.50 and cheap is $1.50 (cheap ones are not to fun...). I have seen a little video on this which is the reason I say epoxy. This person did a 1/2" over lap after filing the sand and then clued with epoxy. Clamping the epoxy is very flexible but I would not know what epoxy to use. And if epoxy is a good choice. Note: Roll on sanding paper is on a cloth like my current belts. So my questions being,

Q1) What glue would be best (Or Cloth tape?)?

Q2) Is 1/2" overlap ideal?

Q3) thinking a 20 degree cuts for the joint.

Can not think of anything else but anything on making these would be great. People do it and stuff, but I can not find how to do it!

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  • You would need a sandpaper, and a glue, designed to withstand a lot of heat and flexing. May I suggest instead using a random orbital sander, bench disk sander, or one of the other designs that uses less expensive media? Belt sanders are too aggressive for most woodworking anyway...
    – keshlam
    Nov 11, 2016 at 6:10
  • I do have a 1/4 sheet sander but I do use the belt sander often. For the time being it is my "planer" if you will. The 1/4 sheet is my finishing for my projects. Also I heard of polyurethane glue.
    – Ljk2000
    Nov 11, 2016 at 12:29
  • Would this be considerably cheaper than mail ordering bulk sanding belts? I'm finding lots of belts available for $14/12, before any kind of a volume discount, coupon, etc. Are you looking to save money, or simply enjoy the DIY aspect?
    – BrownRedHawk
    Nov 14, 2016 at 16:53
  • I never thought to look for bulk with sander belts. I will look sometime today. I am looking for a cheaper belt to save money. But it is also for fun, learning to make a belt and things like that.
    – Ljk2000
    Nov 15, 2016 at 12:29
  • I'm a large proponent of factory mass production when it comes to consistency and cheapness, economy of scale being the biggest factor. Fun basically requires the opposite of large scale and cheap. I would choose to EITHER do it to be cheap OR do it for fun. Doing it for both may compromise it so that it is NEITHER entirely fun, NOR cheap!
    – BrownRedHawk
    Nov 15, 2016 at 20:42

1 Answer 1

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There are many different resources, or how to videos doing quick search, but here is where I would start.

Make Your Own Sanding Belts - FastCap

Make Your Own Sanding Belts - Video

The key points are he is using pieces from drum sander belts, but whatever you are using should work the same.

Mark your length on each end of the strip, then overlap them so the two marks line up, and then cut the angle on both ends of the paper at the same time with a single cut. This way the angle doesn't matter, and the straightness of the cut do not matter. They will match up perfectly.

Then use FastCap speed tape, double sided tape on the back side over the joint, using enough to extend each direction from the seam a couple of inches. Trim the excess flush on the edges of your new belt. Then once you put it on the sander, use a roller on the taped portion of the belt to ensure a good bond with the tape.

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  • Great to have an Answer here but SE strives to have responses that aren't completely reliant on external links, in case they go dormant or are changed. Could you briefly summarise the methodology to future-proof the Answer in case one or both URLs become unavailable?
    – Graphus
    Nov 12, 2016 at 9:06
  • Alright, thanks, I added an overview of the steps.
    – Jacob Edmond
    Nov 14, 2016 at 13:59

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