Who offers the best belts for Edison phonographs?

[ImperialGuardsman]

I've always wanted to know how good the rubber ones are. I would think that the elasticity of ruber would function as a flutter filter and that they would grip the pullys better than leather. Any thoughts?

While not having used one myself, I've heard the opposite from people who have.

I thought of the "flutter filter" theory too and bought a couple for use on a Triumph. They don't work at all, at least the ones I bought on eBAY. Leather is way better. I had some issues with the leather ones being too wide and running off the pully too. I trimmed the overly wide places with a razor and it now works perfectly.

Interesting, and suprising too. Thanks for the information.

[MicaMonster]

There are TWO materials I use for phonograph belting: COW and KANGAROO leather.

Cow leather can come in a variety of "toughness" and the belts ability to flex and straighten is incredibly important to the operation of the machine. The thicker the belt, the harder it is for the phonograph motor to drive it. Cow leather, as I have observed, has a tendency to get dry and TOUGH. For my higher end machines, I have been using some cow leather that came with a record collection that I bought. I received several narrow spools of it. It is STRAIGHT cut, and has no waviness to it. Modern phonograph belting is generally cut in a spiral pattern out of a single piece of leather, and has a slight curvature to it which can be removed by moderate stretching before installation. But, when my cow leather is gone, it will be GONE. I haven't been able to source new leather because I am a lazy slug.

Leather can be an annoyance to install properly, because proper tension will make the phonograph run slow, or run sloppily. Establishing that correct tension is important. I usually fit a belt cut to fit exactly, then cut back each end ⅛" to ¼" to allow some lap-over to shorten the belt to make it fit feather-snug.

A material most people never consider is kangaroo leather. Back in my younger days when I was a short track speed skater, the best boots were made from kangaroo leather because it had some stretch, and was incredibly strong and resilient to force. Companies like BONT (Australia) and VIKING (Netherlands) still use kangaroo leather for its toughness and its softness.

http://www.phonophan.com (Tim Fabrizio) sells kangaroo belting for under $8, and I have been using it for years. When installing the belt, always stretch it moderately to tighten up the grain of the belt, then I fit it on the machine with the rough side DOWN. I remove it, cut the ends to lap over each other, and glue together on or off the machine depending on application. After glue dries I install the belt SMOOTH SIDE DOWN on the pulleys. This has worked well, and I am a lifelong supporter of kangaroo leather.

As long as I don't have to have one as a pet, this will work.