i like the idea about the air cyl air spring,, i was considering a similar setup only instead of having constant supply air, i was going to use a volume chamber, plumb from the cyl to the chamber, this would increase the volume being compressed when the cyl is compressed, thus making the force over the travel more even... the larger the chamber the softer the spring rate... then i could just add air to the chamber if i needed more lift... only major drawback would be if there were a leak then it would slowly reduce the force applied... whaddya think?
Grizzly X3, CNC Fusion Ballscrew kit, 3 500oz-in bipolar steppers, 3 203v Gecko's, Linear power supply from Hubbard CNC, Mach 3, BOBcad Pro Art V22, Rhino.