Sanding belts [View all]

I have a few fine grain old belts from the 80s, manufactured in the U.S.A. in Reading PA. Bought direct from the factory, glued joints, rarely ever pop a joint, I mean rarely. I need some coarse grain belts.

Now I get these modern ones at the Big Box store, $2-4 each, with mylar tape joints. All the brands I looked at had these joints. They've been here 4-5 years and took some humidity which they say online is a problem, and they last 30 seconds. Should I buy more of these? Does anyone make sanding belts like they did in 1985? Is humidity the issue? I think the 5/8" wide mylar is a lousy joining method.

There are articles on repairing broken belts, mostly with Super Glue on the mylar tape. I got 10 minutes out of them but still that's not good at all.

Do we make anything well anymore?