Buying guide
HTD 3M vs 5M vs 8M Timing Belts: Which Pitch Do You Need?
How to pick the HTD pitch for your CNC, linear axis or power transmission drive, and how to order the matching pulleys.
HTD belts have round (curvilinear) teeth. The number in the name is the pitch, the distance between two teeth: 3 mm, 5 mm or 8 mm. A bigger pitch means bigger teeth, more load capacity and a larger minimum pulley.
Quick comparison
| Profile | Pitch | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| HTD 3M | 3 mm | Light drives, small CNC and robot joints, compact reductions |
| HTD 5M | 5 mm | CNC router axes, Z axis reductions, spindle and motor drives |
| HTD 8M | 8 mm | Heavy power transmission, large machines, high torque |
How to choose
- Start from the load. If a narrow 3M belt would need to be very wide to carry the torque, move up to 5M; the same goes from 5M to 8M.
- Check the space. Larger pitches need larger pulleys. If the pulleys must stay small, a smaller pitch in a wider belt is often the better fit.
- Keep the whole drive the same profile. Belt and pulleys must have identical pitch and profile. HTD 5M does not mesh with GT2, T5 or S5M even when the numbers look similar.
What to tell us when ordering
- Profile and pitch (for example HTD 5M)
- Belt type: closed loop (pitch length, e.g. 500-5M) or open-end by the metre
- Belt width in mm
- For pulleys: tooth count, bore and belt width
Shop: HTD 3M pulleys · HTD 5M pulleys · all timing belts
See also: HTD 5M vs GT2 · GT2 vs GT3 vs HTD · belt length calculation · MXL / XL / L / T5 belts
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