The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Is there any source for the wide, stitched, leather belts as originally installed on Columbia machines?

Curt, that is a good question......I am looking for a couple as well, particularly for the Columbia BK.

A few months back, someone sold a few stitched replicas on eBay. He said his wife ran them through her sewing machines a few times. They looked okay in the pictures. I sure wish I had bookmarked that guy's eBay store. Keep watch on eBay, maybe he will sell some more.

I am working on getting 5/16 and ⅜ belt cut. The columbia factory stitched their belts together, thus it is difficult to cut and mend them without having the thread loosen or unravel. The threaded stitching nearly eliminated belt stretch. I looked into having it done, at considerable expense, but the main stumbling block was making sure people could cut and splice the stuff. I decided not to go that route. Keep an eye on the forums as I suspect I will have wider belt available in the next week or so

I always thought that the stitched belts were stitched after they were spliced to the correct length? The Frow Compendium lists belt lengths, so it seems they were factory made for a specific length for each model. MY DD A-80 still has it's original stitched belt.

Andreas