Ouch my eye!

So now that I have my quote in from the ULS rep for my list of parts, I thought I’d go through the list and see how much of it I can second source from other suppliers outside of the ULS umbrella. So for starters I decided to go with what is most-likely the easiest part to find elsewhere… the timing belts. Now I don’t know much about timing belts, but figured they were an off the shelf component. So after doing a little research online, I discovered that the pitch/profile for the belt is known as MXL (Miniature Extra Light). I wasn’t sure on the material of the belt, but I did come across a spec that stated it was Kevlar re-enforced. After searching he usual retail suspects [McMaster Carr & SDP/SI as well as few others] it became apparent that the material must be urethane. So armed with that information, as well as the length  and width specifications for the replacement belts, I came up with some pricing:

The base spec for all the belts is: MXL (0.080) pitch timing belt x 1/4in wide, urethane belt with Kevlar re-enforcing members. All are closed loop belts, for open they will be cut. (McMaster & SDP-SI don’t have Kevlar re-enforced belts that are open)

Short Z belt: [meas: 105 teeth closed] (there is some flex in the length due to the adjustment mechanism, s0 103-108 should all be okay)
Primary: 105MXL, 105 teeth [8.4in] SDP/SI – A 6B16-105025 [3.52]
Alternate: 103MXL, 103 teeth [8.2in] McMaster – 1679K93 [2.55]

X Belt: [spec: 5.25ft / 63; meas: ~60in – open]
Primary: 962MXL,  [77in] McMaster – 1679K686 [9.61]
Alternate: 1500MXL,  [120in] SDP/SI – A 6B16-15C025 [21.33]

Y Belt: x2 [Spec 3.25ft / 39in; meas: ~37in – open]
Primary: 482MXL,  [38.5in] SDP/SI – A 6B16-482025 [5.54]
Alternate: 482MXL,  [38.5in]  McMaster – 1679K683 [5.84]

Now I could probably do even better here, but for 1 off, there is no real need to. At $24.21 for all the belts, I’m roughly 1/6th the quoted cost of $140! That’s $120 savings right there… if I can keep this up, I just might be able to swallow the outrageous price of the extrusion.

(yes I know the prices above are US dollars, and the quote was in Canadian, but given the value of the dollar right now, I consider them to be pretty much equal)