Hi All, The Universal drive belt was designed especially for the
Universal player piano. It is _ not _ commercially available. It is
0.250" wide, 5.01" in diameter, and has 193 teeth (which equates to
one tooth every 1.8653 degrees). The belt has a total thickness of
0.060" of which 0.030" are the teeth.
Robert Stanoszek, who is the leading authority on all things
regarding the modern Universal, has spent countless hours searching
for replacements belts, and he has contacted numerous belt makers
in the attempt to have the belt manufactured. However, he found
the cost to be extremely high.
Also, in conversations with Robert, we noted that in the nearly
forty years that we've been working on Universal players, not one
belt has ever broken or become damaged, and collectively we have
worked on over 500 units.
At present, I am working on a project to have a new belt 3-D printed
out of a TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) material, but it remains to
be seen if the belt will be strong enough or flexible enough to do
the job.
Musically,
John A Tuttle
Player-Care
[ Drive Belt Teeth
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/23/10/06/231006_084013_drive-belt-teeth.jpg
[ Drive Belt CAD
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/23/10/06/231006_084013_drive-belt-CAD.jpg
[ Drive Belt (Scan)
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/23/10/06/231006_084013_drive-belt.jpg
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