True, but they cannot do 1-off custom. I have a
handful of much-beloved
reel-to-reel audio tape decks and turntables in need of replacement
rubber. Is there anyone in the world tooled up for custom belts and
rollers anymore?
Are you sure your needs are "custom"? Flat/toothed belts
tend to be hard to find "in variety"... but I have been able
to find almost *any* of the round or "square" (cross sectional)
belts used in most consumer gear.
Can you recomend any places to start looking (usual disclaimers, of
course). I collect names of companies that sell useful stuff for
hacking/restoration.
Do you have an existing belt to use as a template?
Or, barring that, the diameters of the pulleys and
their center-to-center distances (from which
computing belt size is straightforward...)
FWIW, there's a program in the HP67 Mechanical Engineering Pac (which
will also run on the HP41 series with a card reader) that calculates belt
length given the diameters of the pulleys and the coordinates of their
shafts. It assumes the belt goes round the outside of all the pulleys, it
gets the wrong answer if one pulley is outside the belt (which would be
done if that pulley needs to turn the opposite way)[1].
[1] The thermal printer in muy HP9845B has a toothed (timing) belt with
teeth on both sides. Yes, one sprocket is outside the belt and turns
'backwards'.
Typically, these belts run $1 - $2 ... which is outrageous
when you consider you're buying a glorified "rubber band"
but a *steal* when you consider it's actual VALUE!!
Oh, indeed. Remember you're restoring a valuable (to you) computer or
whatever.
-tony