Swapping to a Polyurethane Drive Band
I am incredibly hard on my tools. By that I mean I put hours of use into them. And I make sure I take care of my tools so I can put even more hours on them!
One part I replace frequently is the drive band. For cotton drive bands, my rule is to replace the drive band after eight hours of use. The drive band stretches over time, loses its elasticity, and can abrade.
The photo to the left is the drive band I just removed from my Ashford Elizabeth II. If I’m honest, this drive band saw a little more than eight hours of use. You can clearly see it is frayed and at the end of its life.
When a drive band gets to this point, it is prone to slipping and snapping.
Cotton drive bands have their own benefits. They are easy and cheap to source. A ball of cotton kitchen twine will keep you stocked on drive bands for years. They are also simple to replace by either knotting them or stitching the ends together.
Remember, though, I am hard on tools. With my usage, I change cotton drive bands out at least once per week. I needed something a little longer-lasting. I decided to swap my cotton drive bands for polyurethane bands.
Many wheel manufacturers have designed their newer wheels (castle-style wheels in particular) to use polyurethane bands. There is a good chance that you’ve already got a poly band on your wheel. Vintage wheels or more “classic” wheel designs are not often equipped with a poly band. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be.
I use my Elizabeth II in double-drive mode. I kept this in mind when selecting a poly band. I settled on a 2mm band, which is thinner than what is usually provided by wheel manufacturers.
Once I cut off my cotton drive band, I used it to measure out the correct length of poly band. I threaded the poly band on my wheel just as I would with a cotton band. The trick to polyurethane is in the join.
To join the two ends of poly band, I used a lighter to melt the two ends, then pushed them together. Before the plastic fully cooled, I took a folded piece of paper and rolled the join back and forth between the paper. This rounded the join so that it would pass through my wheel smoothly.
The resulting join is strong and flexible.
Like cotton drive bands, these have their benefits and drawbacks. The poly band lasts years instead of weeks. However, it won’t work well with every wheel. Depending on how deep the wheel groove is and the finish of the wood, the poly band might slip out. It is more likely to jump the groove in a double-drive setup, especially if the groove is narrow. The two bands compete for space in a way that cotton bands don’t. This is one of the reasons I chose a thinner band.
The poly band also tends to have more grab than the cotton band and can create stronger uptake, which may throw off your default spin.
Twenty hours of spin-time in, though, and it is serving me well.
