what's it called?

willshak wrote the following:

Never mind. I just rearranged the words in the search and found what I want.

Solenoid?

Nail guns... :)

There are pneumatic cylinders that will do that. Start here

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.

Greg

A plunger is on the end of a solenoid. The solenoid is the "motor" that activates the "plunger".

I think it's called a pneumatic cylinder. The more air pressure you have and the less force it has to overcome by moving, the faster it will move.

Perhaps if you tell us what you're wanting it for, we can think of a better solution.

Check these out

A fastly instantly air pressure actuator?

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.

That's what they do for doorbell chimes ding-dong!!!

Steve-

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.

check these out for concepts

oops!

forgot to hit send last night.

cheers Bob

Based on these...

I don't think he needs high speed

cheers Bob

Souinds like you are describing an a "pneumatic cylinder" Same as a hydraulic one except run by air pressure.

Harry K

I think you might be thinking of an "intertia" nutcracker. I've never used one, but I understand they work pretty well on pecans.

Since they are powered by a rubber band, should be pretty easy/cheap to make yer own.

nb

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.

He is cracking pecans, not crushing diamonds. A fairly small air cylinder operating at a fairly low pressure with a bit of mass would do it .