PING: John

On Jan 4, 8:53=A0pm, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

I bought the belt from a company called McMasters-Carr It is called a "Urethane belt, hollow core". Type that into their search function and it should take you to the appropriate page. It is held together at the ends by a little pointed double ended thingy that is inserted into each end of the cut to length hose. It is available in multiple sizes from 3/16" on up to large sizes. For the purposes your interested in, either the 1/4" or the 5/16" is the appropriate size. You will need to purchase, from the same people the little connector thingys which come in pkgs of 25. It is not as cheap as the 5 dollar leather belts, but is good for the life of your ownership of the sewing machine, and probably a couple of generations down the line. I first chose the

5/16'" and it worked fine. I thought I would see if I could get the 1/4" size to work and I found it was just a bit too stretchy, at least in my attempt. So I would recommend the 5/16" size and the appropriate connector. You will probably need about 6 feet of the hose, but measure your particular length requirements, and you can cut it with a knife or good pair of utility scissors. It comes in a fashionable yellow for the avant guard among us, or if you are of a more conservative bent, a clear plastic look. Either way, it will be out of place as to the look on any older sewing machine. That is the bad part. The good part is that it beats the pants off of any leather belt made. That should assuage your damaged sense of esthetics. I came across this product in a posting to a website that is geared toward treadle stuff, and there was this guy who was a Vegan and didn't want to use any animal hide belt, in the operation of his sewing machine. (We are truly a weird group, aren't we?). anyway, He tried this solution to his particular dilemma and wrote it up as the perfect solution to the drive belt conundrum, at least as far as he was concerned, so I just took that finding and ran with it, or in this case treadled with it. You can get to them via this link: They take credit card phone orders and shipout quickly. I think I paid about $25 for 12 feet of hose and theconnectors, but I may be off by a dollar or two. If you want to try a1/4" version I will send you a length of it and the connectors if yousend me a private e-mail. You can see if the 1/4" will work for yourpersonal application and if so, then you are ahead of the game. Ifnot, then you should buy the 5/16". One of the criteria that theyrecommend is that you do not go below a given size of belt based onthe diameter of the wheel that it will pass over, in this case thehand wheel on the sewing machine. That is due to the little connectorthingy that would need to not distort as it passes over the wheel onthe machine. It is all spelled out in the page at the company as towhat works with what. Let me know if you want to avail yourself ofthis 1/4" hose. Good luck.

(Note: the use of the term "thingy". This is a technical term and is intended to be used only by those people of a mechanical persuasion) (;>o)

John