[TheForge] air table

Thu Mar 13 23:46:56 EST 2008

Point made...I was waaaay wrong on the pegboard..... realized 
that seconds after i hit the send button...pf

Craig Schaefer wrote:
> I'm not moving anything.  I'm just commenting on the use of premade 
> pegboard.
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Hirst" <saltydog335 at aol.com>
> To: "Craig Schaefer" <craig.schaefer at verizon.net>; "Sponsored by ABANA" 
> <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 8:45 PM
> Subject: Re: Re: [TheForge] air table
> 
> 
>> You're moving sheet metal, not paper or fabric, right?  And you're 
>> moving it in large pieces, not little hockeypucks.  You don't need 
>> 1000 holes. You may not even need 100. You may need only 20.  In big 
>> elaborate stage productions, very large pieces are moved over large 
>> surfaces by means of air casters.  These are essentially discs about 
>> 6" OD with a hole in the center of the bottom, through which 
>> compressed air is forced, lifting the disc off the floor.  An 
>> incredible amount of weight can be lifted on just three or four of 
>> these things.  Turn this system upside down, and instead of one mass 
>> moving over a large surface on three or four air cushions, imagine the 
>> large surface moving over the mass, still on three or four cushions.  
>> The point is, you only need a few air holes under the sheet of metal 
>> at any given time.  Another way of putting this is to ask, how many 
>> holes are under that air hockey puck at any given time?
>>
>> To move say a four-foot square around an 8x8 table, I am suggesting 
>> that If you put a hole at every 16"  within the 8' square, excluding 
>> the perimiter edge,  that makes 25 holes, and you cant position that 
>> 4' square anywhere on the table  without at least 6 holes under it. 
>> You only need three to lift the piece.
>>
>> ANd when you get the piece positioned, turn off the compressore, turn 
>> on the vacuum, you have a hold down.
>>
>> keziah
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Schaefer" 
>> <craig.schaefer at verizon.net>
>> To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 10:23 PM
>> Subject: Re: Re: [TheForge] air table
>>
>>
>>> Yeah, you're exactly right.  I don't know why I said 'compressor'.  
>>> Even if you only had 1000 holes in your pegboard, if they were 1/8 
>>> inch each, you'd have over 12 sq inches of hole to put air thru.
>>> Check my math for me.   Seems like a hell of a lot of 'hole'.     
>>> 1000 * (.0625)^2 * 3.14159 =  12.27
>>>
>>> CraigS
>>> Gresham, OR
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David E. Smucker" 
>>> <davesmucker at hotmail.com>
>>> To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 6:21 PM
>>> Subject: Re: Re: [TheForge] air table
>>>
>>>
>>>> Think blower, not compressor.  Most industrial flotation systems and 
>>>> conveyors that I know about are powered by blowers, not compressors. 
>>>> You want higher volume, lower pressure. (They still require a lot of 
>>>> air).
>>>>
>>>> Dave Smucker
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: <craig.schaefer at verizon.net>
>>>> To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>; "terry l. 
>>>> ridder" <terrylr at blauedonau.com>; "Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer" 
>>>> <artgawk at thegrid.net>
>>>> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 6:34 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: Re: [TheForge] air table
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Pegboard would require a hell of a compressor to create enough 
>>>>> volume to lift anything with a large area.  Pegboard holes are 
>>>>> pretty big.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> CraigS
>>>>> Gresham, OR
>>>>>
>>>>>> From: Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer <artgawk at thegrid.net>
>>>>>> Date: 2008/03/13 Thu PM 03:31:42 CDT
>>>>>> To: "terry l. ridder" <terrylr at blauedonau.com>,
>>>>> Sponsored by ABANA <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] air table
>>>>>
>>>>>> Terry...
>>>>>> almost any perforated rigid surface ought to suffice,with an
>>>>>> adequate compressor supplying air to a plenum below....even in
>>>>>> bursts from a storage tank while you do the actual moving.
>>>>>> Would masonite pegboard do?
>>>>>> Drilling all those holes with a dremmel will drive you nuts and
>>>>>> wear out the dremmel.
>>>>>> On the other hand, a swinging overhead trolley and rail, set up
>>>>>> like a jib crane, with your lift and magnet dangling below, would
>>>>>> not cost all that much more to make and be much more versatile.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> terry l. ridder wrote:
>>>>>>> hello;
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> i have been brainstorming about how to move sheets
>>>>>>> of sheet metal around easily since i do not have the
>>>>>>> ability to either brute force them around or leverage
>>>>>>> them around. the idea of using an air table came to
>>>>>>> me while in farm and fleet looking for pop rivets when
>>>>>>> i saw an air hockey game for sale. i have looked around
>>>>>>> and do not find any viable canidates for an air table.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> a friend suggested getting some countertop 2nds from
>>>>>>> lowes and/or menards and using the dremel tool drill
>>>>>>> the air holes then just make a sheetmetal plenum. attach
>>>>>>> a blower to the plenum.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> i was thinking of using a sheet of rigid nylon and
>>>>>>> perforating it with holes.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> would anyone have hints, suggestions, comments concerning
>>>>>>> air tables?
>>>>>>>
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