Treadle tubing belt revisited
 

I read about using aquarium tubing for treadle belts here some months ago and tried it. The tubing belt was to be wrapped around the wheels taking all the slack out, but not stretching it and cut where the end was. Then shortened by an inch or so and the cut off piece used for the coupler. To do that the short piece was slit length wise, then rolled tight and pushed into the two ends of the belt.
Here is what that looks like with my 9W-7 in the treadle:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...uptubebelt.jpg

Unfortunately that didn't work as good as I thought it should. After using the belt the coupler would slip out of the ends and the belt would loose it's tension and start slipping.

So I had an idea. Make a barbed coupler out of some of the acetel rod my wife bought for her crafts. I took a length of 3/16" rod and cut off a 1" piece. Then put it in my drill motor chamfered the ends and cut groves in it for barbs.
Here is a pic of the old slit tubing couple, the acetel rod and the new coupler in the tubing belt:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...oldsplicer.jpg

And here's a close up of the new barbed coupler in the tubing:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...ronmachine.jpg

And here is the Singer 127 I'm using the tubing belt on right now:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...127testrun.jpg
I've mentioned this one before. It's the one in my thread: I never thought it would sew again.

The new barbed coupler has held for several days and almost an entire Whacky bag of sewing. I do believe it's a much better way to keep the belt together.

Joe

I had trouble when I tried to use the tubing as the coupler. I wasn't smart enough to slice it and roll it so that it would fit. I struggled and struggled trying to insert it even after cutting the coupler's ends into 'V' shapes. I ended up using the wire from a large paperclip and made a staple similar to the ones on a leather belt. I used wire cutters to make it the correct length and used needle nose pliers to shape it. Then, poked a hole in each end of the tubing so that the staple could be attached. Joe, I like your idea and I would rather I didn't have that metal staple touching my machines.

Joe you can also use a piece of old sewing machine belt as a coupler. Use dental floss to sew the ends together. No metal rubbing metal.

Well, I probably could have used the old belt. But I don't sew things together too good by hand. And since I have access to a bunch of the rods, it made a perfect coupler.

I suppose there's lots of ways to do it. This is one

I suppose you could also use the tubing to hold a too short leather belt together if you wanted. I might try that.

Joe

Great idea! The coupler you designed is similar to the one on the rubber belt I got from Lehmans.

Patty,

I actually got the idea from the barbed couplers the automotive industry uses on vacuum tubing. I've got a link to the belt on the Lehmans site, but the pic doesn't give a good view of the coupler.

I'm gonna make a few more and put them with the remainder of the tubing for when I might need another belt.

Joe

You can buy pre-made couplers in the plumbing section at Lowe's. You can also use red weed whacker line from Tractor supply if your hose is 1/4 inch. Cut it to fit of course

Sounds like there's lots of ways to do this. I used the acetel rod cos I have a bunch handy.

Joe

In your opinion, does the machine work the same with the tubing as it did with the leather belt? Is it harder to treadle?

Hi Joe: the last pic you show is just like my 127. Yours is so beautiful! The decals on mine are very worn but love it anyway. Just had to tell you how much I like your machine!
JoAnn