Hi Norm,
The cork I doubt would be strong enough , the Kevlar is strong but not a lot of friction tor a steel plate ,the Nitrile rubber should
be fine ,has good grip to steel ,hard wearing and is contaminate resistant.
There are different formulations and grades of nitrile rubber, which can affect the price.
What about gluing an old car timing belt so the flat rubber is in contact with the flat steel plate ,I've seen old timing belts put on
backwards on those ancient lathes with the flat round drive pulleys.
You would glue the rubber belt so it's like the Ariens drive.
Thinking about it ,it wouldn't be that difficult to use a steel cam pulley with the notches to hold the timing belt, but not that time consuming
to notch the Rover drive wheel if you wanted to do it that way.
I'm sure an old belt would be free or dirt cheap at a wreckers
Cheers
Max..
