Give me ideas for air cylinder use

[AGCB97]

I've come across a few Pneumatic cylinders and am wondering what I can make with them. I believe they are in the neighborhood of 2" x 12". Please put your imaginations to work and give me some ideas. Also maybe a website with design fundamentals.
Thanks
Aaron

 

[Downunder Bob]

wind chimes comes to mind.

 

[C-Bag]

That's very open ended question in a field that is so huge and diverse as pneumatics is. If you look on eBay I'm pretty sure you'll be amazed and swamped with the variation in sizes and motions. I worked in fruit and veg packing for 10 yrs and most of the automation was done with pneumatics. They are clean compared to hydraulics, fast and less expensive. Lots of machines in the packing house were air operated like box fillers, labelers and box makers to name a few. Most of small robotic test beds are pneumatic.

My metal forming stuff is all pneumatic because I work with 1/8" wire so it's plenty strong for that. I'm also finishing up a automatic feed for my 14" verticle bandsaw using a 1/2"x 10" stroke air cyl based off Frank Ford's grav feed.

Once you get the basic principles and realize pneumatics are not weak toys(any one of the machines I mentioned will tear a person up if you get tangled up with them), the application is endless.

 

[Janderso]

We have a 6 ton bumper jack at work. It has been there since I began working at the dealership 32 years ago.
It uses shop air.
Yep, pneumatics are not wimpy.

 

[Bob Korves]

They can also be used as low pressure hydraulic cylinders. Perfect for a downfeed control on a band saw.

 

[JPigg55]

There's a myriad of possible uses, but can be limited by the constraints of the cylinders.
Bore, stroke, operating speed, and operating pressure define the force they can apply which also defines the possible uses.
You could make an air operated hydraulic jack, a door operator, or many other things. Add a little open source electronics and a linear scale and you have a pneumatic positioner.

 

[AGCB97]

All good ideas but I'm not sure I want to destroy them for windchimes. Windchimes are already pneumatic devices, how could they be improved

 

[Shootymacshootface]

Halloween is coming. You could make something that will scare the **** out of people walking to your front door.

 

[pineyfolks]

You could make the ultimate can cruncher for recycling.

 

[Ken from ontario]

Pneumatic cylinders can also be used on punch presses,either to replace mechanical foot pedals or double safety hand pedals.