[jimwick]

We have successfully welded a 1" wide belt.

We lined up the two ends in a piece of C-channel (1" I.D.)
We got a 1" x 1/8" piece of aluminum bar stock and held it vertically between the two pieces.
We heated up the bar stock and pushed the two pieces against it.
When they started to melt we pulled out the bar and pushed the two pieces together.

It worked.