[lancut]

Hi, did anyone use air cylinder in single-acting mode to balance Head on Grizzly tabletop mill. After converting to new 2 hp spindle motor I had to slow the z axis waaaaay down..

[islaww]

Sure...
But use a double acting cylinder with a silencer on the unused port. The regulator does the rest.

[109jb]

Why not just use a lift strut like so many others have done.

[lancut]

"Why not just use a lift strut like so many others have done."

Because I don't have an idea how much oomph I need for my setup. Weighting the head assembly and motor is out of question. By using cylinder I can easily adjust the air pressure needed.
Not only that.. I do have a couple of air cylinders that would be perfect for this, I think.

[109jb]

But an air cylinder will need to have a way to to pressurize it and de-pressurize it or it will lock the motion. of the head.

[bodini]

"Why not just use a lift strut like so many others have done."

Because I don't have an idea how much oomph I need for my setup. Weighting the head assembly and motor is out of question. By using cylinder I can easily adjust the air pressure needed.
Not only that.. I do have a couple of air cylinders that would be perfect for this, I think.

I did this on my gantry router 4 years ago. Works perfect. Pressurize one side of the air cylinder. Put a breather or regulator on the other port of the cylinder. Put a regulator on the air supply to the cylinder to find that happy spot where the head is just about weightless.

Sent from my SGH-T399N using Tapatalk

[109jb]

I see now. I thought you were just plugging one end of the cylinder.

[lancut]

I did this on my gantry router 4 years ago. Works perfect. Pressurize one side of the air cylinder. Put a breather or regulator on the other port of the cylinder. Put a regulator on the air supply to the cylinder to find that happy spot where the head is just about weightless.

Sent from my SGH-T399N using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply. That's exactly what I want to do.

[bodini]

Here is how my system is set up. AIR COMPRESSOR > CHECK VALVE ON AIR TANK ON MACHINE > AIR TANK ON MACHINE > PRESSURE REGULATOR > AIR CYLINDER. Like I said, the other side of the air cylinder has a breather valve.

You could just hook to a compressor, but I wanted the piece of mind that once the small on-board tank (3 or 5 gallon, i forget) is charged the system would not fail because of an unhooked air hose. It will hold all day on one charge (could be longer, I've never cared to notice).

Also, I set a pressure switch on the tank, hooked it to Mach, and if the tank is not pressurized enough, it lights an LED.

I just checked and the air pressure is set to about 90 psi to make the head nearly weightless. When the head goes down and the air compresses back to the system, it reads about 93 psi at the holding tank.

Reply with a question if you want any more info.

[lancut]

Thanks for the details. I have compressed air at the machine and all the parts needed, air pressure regulator, pretty good size manifold, etc.. It should be no problem to get this going. Thanks again.