I'm working on illustrating my book,

3D Printing
,
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I’m working on illustrating my book, and kind of flabbergasted by the range of belt quality I found in my parts bin…

From top to bottom in the photo:

  1. Geeetech “GT2” from Amazon - it’s a frickin’ trapezoidal profile! Oh, and the belt is 7.35mm wide, which is baffling.
  2. Merlintools “GT2” from Amazon - looks like it’s actually FHT or STD, not GT2
  3. “Made in Japan” GT2 from SDP-SI - good tooth form, ok quality
  4. Genuine Gates GT3 from SDP-SI - premium stuff :slight_smile:

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And if you guys were wondering why cheap belts have so much more ringing, check the tensile strands in these…

Top: Merlintools Amazon GT2, looks like 8 strands of what I’m guessing is polyester (stretchy)

Bottom: “Made in Japan” SDP-SI GT2, looks like 13 strands of fiberglass (stiff)

missing/deleted image from Google+

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if only they would sell the gt3 from gates on a specific length :frowning: the longest belt they sell is about 10cm short for a dbot.

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Yeah, finding good belts for CoreXY or HBot is a pain. You can buy ~2m long loop belts from reputable vendors like SDP-SI and cut them open, that’ll cover up to about 400x400mm CoreXY.

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I have the belts that came on my makergear m2, and genuine gates gt3. The belts that came on the printer had a backing that is half as thick as the genuine. Completely out of spec! Can you guess the result? A lot of ringing, and the belt clamps (which are closed loop press fit) were loose, creating backlash.

Folks, don’t buy cheap belts! I got ~2 meter gates gt3 belts for like $6 each. Sdp-si belts cost more than the genuine, but at least they’re close to spec.

I’ve been meaning to take pictures to show the difference.
Shame on manufacturers who use cheap belts thinking that it won’t matter. This $1,200 printer was completely hindered because of a 6 dollar part.

1 Like
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I just really wish it was easier to buy genuine here in Europe :confused:

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@Stephanie_A where can i buy these belts from?

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https://plus.google.com/+ReneJurack/posts/BWRx2jmSx4T

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Just choose the one best for purpose,

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I didn’t even know SDP sold non-Gates GT belts. I’ve gotten a variety of belts from them and they were all Gates so far. I wonder if it’s an odd size that Gates doesn’t offer.

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@Jeff_DeMaagd That “made in Japan” SDP-SI belt was bought back in 2014 and was an unusually large size… I think they might have switched all new stock to genuine GT3 since then but I don’t know if that’s across the board or just typical sizes.

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Gates does sell rolls of belts for pretty cheap. I think it’s called “long gt3” or something like that.

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@Blake_Dunham i did look quite hard to find a place where to buy it.

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Motion industries does sell it even though it’s not listed on their site. You have to call them and give them the part number. You have to buy it in increments of 50 feet however, but its reasonably priced for the quality of the belts.

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If someone would sell open length 2MGT3, I would buy 1000m of it. But noone does.

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I got my belt here: http://www.royalsupply.com/store/pc/Gates-1164-2MGT-06-PowerGrip-GT3-Synchronous-Belt-94001582-4609p17193.htm

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@Rene_Jurack 1000m no typo? You should call a Gates sales rep…

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no typo :wink:

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@Stephanie_A ​: 60 usd for shipping to Norway :confused:

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Search the part number. Gt3 has a different part number than gt2. Some vendors use them interchangeably.

I think the 1164mm belt is the largest standard size. If you need bigger you should probably use a wider belt or bigger tooth.

Edit:
They do sell long length belts, up to 300 feet: http://www.royalsupply.com/store/pc/Gates-LL2MR06-Long-Length-PowerGrip-GT2-Belting-9396-0009-1045p20522.htm