Air Assist Hose

Anything to do with air assist, vacuum tables, fume extraction and related...

Air Assist Hose

Postby bdring » Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:29 am

My assist air hose is not always so too well behaved. When the gantry is towards the rear of the work area there is a lot of slack in the line and it drags across the work piece and sometimes rubs on the X-Axis belt. I was searching for a coiled hose. Most of the coiled hose I found was for air tools and has about 4" diameter coils (too big). I was hoping to find the type of hose you see on a blood pressure gage. I saw this paintball accessory hose on eBay for $9.00. I decided to give it a try. It is exactly the right size and has just the right flexibiliy, but unfortunately it has a huge backpressure and very little air comes out the end. The material is nylon and has a working pressure of 3000lbs. It must have a very small diameter hole through it.

Does anyone know where to find the hose I am looking for?

Paintball Hose
coil.png
coil.png (67.16 KiB) Viewed 26287 times

Blood Pressure Hose
bp_coil.png
bp_coil.png (179.12 KiB) Viewed 26289 times
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Re: Air Assist Hose

Postby lasersafe1 » Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:44 am

I have what I consider to be the perfect hose material. It is a springy 1/8" capillary tube made out of some sort of nylon material. I believe it is sold for small tabletop air tools or pneumatics. It will definitely spring back when the gantry moves to home position and it is extreamely light weight and flexible. I haven't mounted it yet, because I haven't got the air assist nozzle, but I think it will do fine. It does have a lot of backpressure because it is only 1/8" capillary tubing, but I can blow through it and my air pump seems to provide a decent breeze.

I got mine from my brother when he worked for Kershaw Automation in sales. They were samples to hand out. The closest thing to it I see on the web so far is:

http://www.freelin-wade.com/coiledtubin ... 27_37.html
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Re: Air Assist Hose

Postby bdring » Wed Dec 02, 2009 3:02 am

Thanks for the info.

What would you guess the O.D. of the coils are? Not the actual tubing, but the coil.
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Re: Air Assist Hose

Postby lasersafe1 » Wed Dec 02, 2009 1:28 pm

.75 to 1 inch
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Re: Air Assist Hose

Postby lasersafe1 » Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:33 am

Finally got the air assist nozzle in place. Had to cut down on the length of the original suction plenum so the nozzle won't hit. I also extended the limit switch blades so they reach the photo interrupter before the stage wants to pass over the rail. It sure is good to have a friend with a lathe.
Attachments
DSC01755.JPG
nozzle closup. Uses 1/8" push-to-lock fitting with 10/32 thread.
DSC01755.JPG (52.98 KiB) Viewed 26235 times
DSC01754.JPG
lens at 0,0 Home position. Hose coil stretches just fine.
DSC01754.JPG (63.45 KiB) Viewed 26236 times
DSC01753.JPG
full coiled position at furthest XY motion.
DSC01753.JPG (55.39 KiB) Viewed 26235 times
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Re: Air Assist Hose

Postby LeonS » Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:18 pm

I would recommend a coiled airbrush hose. They are springy but also light weight. They are also made for the pressures you are likely to have on the air assist (around 30 PSI).

I wish I had a friend with a lathe! Looks great!

Regards,
Leon
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Re: Air Assist Hose

Postby bdring » Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:37 am

That's fantastic looking! Very inspirational.

The pictures are very informative. I have to get some of that hose. It is exactly what I was looking for. I think you cut the length perfectly. It does not over stretch yet coils up just right.
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Re: Air Assist Hose

Postby lasersafe1 » Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:45 am

I can send you a piece, but it might be too short for your system. What is the longest throw??
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Re: Air Assist Hose

Postby bdring » Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:33 am

Thanks, I might take you up on that offer. A friend said he had some too. Either way, I am going to wait until I make some other changes first.
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