Round Belting - Solid vs. Hollow, Polycord vs. McMaster

[artdutra04]

Don't waste $500 on the McMaster "welding kit"; the solid core polycord can be welded with just a lighter. Just cut the cord 10% shorter than the actual distance necessary, melt the ends with the lighter, stick them together (use the inside of aluminum angle to keep them lined up), and wait five minutes. Now use a razor and trim off all the globs of melted cord around the joint so it is smooth and wait another half hour to let it cure and achieve full strength.

I've used the McMaster round belting as well as name-brand Polycord from Small Parts. They are pretty much the same, except McMaster ships a lot faster. Just watch out: the endless belts offered by McMaster are nice in the fact that they already come preset to the length you want, however they are a lot more expensive per foot to buy (0.25" continuous belt is about 4x more expensive per foot than plain belting).


// Also, for anyone else who may be reading this thread: if you want to purchase polycord material from McMaster, don't search for polycord, as this will only bring up one result. Search for round belting to get the whole list of hollow and solid core belting in the various colors (green, orange, clear).