254 attached their carriages on to timing belt in 2015. What can be used to do this?
On past teams, we used two aluminum plates screwed together to capture the teeth of the belt. Those plates were probably 2" long for Triple Play, if I remember, and the belt we were using was pretty coarse-pitch. (I wish I could provide more detail, but it’s also been 11 years.)
For low-load applications, my past teams have also glued on the necessary carriages using flexible glue like Shoe Goo or E-6000.
Several techniques I have seen over the years, all across the spectrum of quality:
- A two-part machined clamping block, one side with the timing belt profile milled into it, either made by the team or purchased
- Same as above, but with flat, knurled, or grippy surface instead of a profile
- A series of long bolts strategically positioned to interlock with the teeth, similar to 1
- Using open-ended belting, formed into loops at each end with an eyebolt through them
- Bolting directly onto or through the belt with woodscrews, zip ties, set screws, etc. Works better with larger belts.
- Epoxy
Last year we used two open-ended belts, cut and mated together. The belt that went over the top of the carriage interfaced to a flat pulley via the flat side of the belt (i.e. teeth out). The belt that went around the motor at the bottom had the teeth in. The two belts connected to each other on the carriage via two knurled clamping plates. At the other end of the two belts, we mated the inside teeth to the outside teeth with about 3" of overlap. We then used safety wire and high-strength (15-mil) duct tape to keep the two sides of the belt together. It worked pretty well, and only needed maintenance once.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/makerbot/4GwROs4dw90
First Post has pictures