The track for sliding glass doors, like the locking doors on the back of a jewelry store display case. I am looking for a double track, one that will allow two panes of plexiglass to slide past each other. I tried google, but I get all kinds of stuff not related to what I want.
Air powered linear actuator ? You can control it with electric air valve. They go both directions. Problem is with vibration in some precision applications. Some have a brake. Much faster than most other actuaries. I helped make one used on a medical imager.
The problem with a typical actuator is that the piston is small and the air inlet is small. You can't get high speed actuation without high pressure. The nail gun has the accumulator built into the piston system with a huge port between the accumulator and the huge cylinder. You can get high volume for fast actuation plus a lot of force with less air pressure. Gives you a lot finer control.
If I were gonna crack a nut, I'd make a hard rubber platform slightly thinner than the nut. Drill a hole in it to guide the nut. Then play whack-a-mole with a rubber hammer. Crack your nutz and reduce tension at the same time.
The small air cylinders that Ed suggested will probably do the job for you. I would suggest a "spring return" type; air powered to extend, air power off, spring return.
You won't need muhc stroke... maybe 1/2" max? You'll probably want to limit the travel so you don't completely mash the nuts. And probably wind making some sort of nut holding fixture.
You'll have to do some playing around to determine how much force you need so you can pick a cylinder bore size.
Rod size will be small (like 1/2" or less) you'll need to put some sort of "tool" on end of the rod.
Someone else mentioned the Surplus Center in Lincoln, NE. You might look at their hydraulic stuff. Hydraulics normally operate at 2000 psi. That could give you a little more speed. Maybe a hydraulic cylinder operated on air would be useful. They also have power packs.
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