I found an instructable on how to make your own silicon rubber bands, and it got me thinking about making timing belts. A mold could be made with a 3d print and then it could be strengthened with nylon strings as a core.

Any thoughts?

If that works as a rubberband I am not sure if it would work well as a timing belt, ( The belt might flex on high speeds, Just a though? )

One solution I am going to be trying in my design is to use Fishing line instead of a timing belt like the Tantillus does ( Much cheaper then regular belts, About $10 is enough to probably do 20 or more repraps. Just a though

It stretches that's why I wanted to embed nylon or Kevlar string inside it.

Hmm, A very interesting idea I like it
You could 3d print a mold with the teeth pattern you like, and if you left string out each side, you could probably even extend it and connect it together, If you do some experimenting with it, let me know how it turns out.

I haven't got my printer up and running yet. That's kinda how I cam across this stuff. I was thinking about making some cad files and putting them on thingiverse and see if anyone wanted to try it out for me. I imagined making the mold connected that way the string could be rapped 2-3 times around and you wouldn't need to tie anything off.

I'll update on here if I ever get around to it.

I don't know if silicone is the right material, but I imagine one way to do this is in two parts: mold the inner surface and teeth first, wrap the cord around the belt, then mold over the cord.

One thing to consider is that it's hard enough printing pulley teeth for belts, so you might have a hard time printing fine pitch teeth with precise profiles.

You might be able to 3d print the track's and inlay them in the mold,

cube([1,10,1],center=true);
cylinder(r1=.25,r2=1,h=2,$fn=30);
translate([0,3,0])cylinder(r1=.25,r2=1,h=2,$fn=30);
translate([0,-3,0])cylinder(r1=.25,r2=1,h=2,$fn=30);

and then for the mold do something like

difference(){
cube( [39,12,3] );
translate([0,1,2])cube( [39,10,1] );
for ( t = [1:19]){
translate([ ( t*2 ) - 1,1,1])cube( [1,10,1] );
}
}

Print the teeth, and a thin layer of plastic that is still flexible. Next rap string around it and then covered it with the silicon to keep it all together. That should give you the rigidity for the teeth and the flexibility for the belt, and you wouldn't really need a mold.

However I have never printed anything out so I am just throwing out ideas.

I have recently found kevlar chains similiar in design to a bike chain. It would be interesting to adapt it. Im also finding lots of different profiles of belts. Some testing with different setups would be interesting.

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