Replies

1. 
   DougU | Sep 14, 2002 05:34am | #1

   Nigel

   At first thought I would be concerned about all the dust that I'm going to have flying around in the air. We just wax our table tops and that helps quit well. Not saying it wont work, just my thoughts.

   Doug

2. 
   RSRose | Sep 14, 2002 09:11am | #2

   I've seen air tables in printing plants where they cut large stacks of paper with precision guillotine (sp?) type cutters. The stacks of paper are HEAVY! It takes a couple guys to put them on the table. But one guy can move the stack around the table like it's a lighweight because of the air feature in the surface of the table.

   But they don't have sawdust to worry about, and I think it works well because the paper stack covers a lot of holes at once, it's perfectly flat on its bottom and the weight of the stack actually works in favor of keeping the air "bed" under the stack. I wonder if boards of wood would behave similarly.

   Rich

3. 
   rslatm | Sep 14, 2002 03:40pm | #3

   Have you tried keeping it waxed on a regular basis. I keep a can of wax around my planer, jointer and tablesaw. The air hockey table is doable but it's overkill for a small shop in my opinion. On beam type panel saw some manufacturers incorporate this feature for cutting 6 sheets at a time. There is a company that makes a retro-fit to do this. It has these fittings with small spring loaded balls that release the air when something slides over them. A can of wax is a heck of a lot cheaper. There's been times I'd love to have an air hockey jointer table.

1. 
   mitch | Sep 14, 2002 07:58pm | #4

   If I'm not mistaken, Ryobi had something just like that on the market some years back.  Wish I could remember where I saw it- probably an older FW or Fine Homebuilding.  Personally, I'm a gadget freak- if it were properly engineered I think it would work really slick- no pun intended.

   I doubt it would take much pressure or many holes- it seems like the Ryobi ran off a shopvac.  Besides, you wouldn't want it to feel completely weightless/frictionless, floating over the surface without any drag at all.  I'm thinking that would be too hard to control and maybe more than a little dangerous.  I'd put a valve in to control the airflow/pressure so you can adjust it for various sizes and weights of material.

   I wouldn't worry too much about the extra dust- it will only blow up what comes down almost right on a hole and that won't amount to a lot of the table surface- then turn off the pressure before you sweep off the top.

   mitch

1. 
   NormInFujino | Sep 15, 2002 03:23am | #5

   The Ryobi table was made for their BT3000, and could be used both to float large panels, and in reverse, to hold down sheet workpieces for sanding and other work. I never heard of anyone who really used it much, though. The sawdust issue, btw, can be solved by the use of a good dust collection design and blade guard--both of which the BT3000 had.

   ". . .and only the stump or fishy part of him remained."

   Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township

4. 
   ijigm | Sep 16, 2002 10:39pm | #6

   I built one and it works well!!! contact me for info. [email protected]

1. 
   RSRose | Sep 16, 2002 10:47pm | #7

   ijig,

   That's great that your design works. How about sharing it here on the forum, rather than by email personal communication so that everyone can benefit?

   Thanks,

   Rich