Unless there are strict air consumption or time requirements, it is a good idea to oversize the cylinder. Joe Malloy was the chief engineer at Numatics Actuator when this article was first published.

Pneumatic cylinders are used to generate force and power linear motion on OEM equipment of all types. They can move product directly or move the components inside a machine that act on the product.

He purged the oil out of it and is now using it as a pneumatic cylinder. He also picked up a cheap $10 plastic Adafruit flow meter, and decided to try to make a positional pneumatic cylinder.

You see a lot of pneumatic actuators in industrial automation, and for good reason. They’re simple, powerful, reliable, and above all, cheap. Online sources and fluid-power suppliers carry a … ...