Air Sled

If this is what it seems to me then this is a brilliant idea.
Please confirm that this is effectively a hovercraft, powered by a compressor, to enable the machines to be moved.
Love to know some more practical details too.
Ron B

I would think that your floor and how smooth it is adds to the efficiency of the sled?

-- Folly ever comes cloaked in opportunity!

Amazing!

I am looking forward to seeing the building pics. of your next one! LOL

Thank you very much!

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Ron, powered by the blowing side of the shop vac, I don’t think an air compressor would have enough volume.

Dez, yes the floor does need to be fairling level. This air sled under the bandsaw is fairly small and works great, the one under the table saw is much larger, works but not as well, hits high spots and the low spots allow too much air to get out. And I was thinking my floor was level, it is pretty smooth.

Joe, yes so am I, LOL. Just seems like I am a lot more tired lately, hope to get back to normal in a few months, unless it’s just age, LOL

-- Steve in Oregon,

This is a fantastic idea! I wish I would have been tipped off on this prior to purchasing rolling stands for my bandsaw and planer – I would have went with this idea instead.

I just might do this to the bandsaw anyway it seems much easier than tilting, setting the wheels down, pushing, tilting to get the wheels back up. This looks like all you do is insert your tube, turn on the vac and just push!

Great job!

-bob

-- Man is a tool-using Animal. Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all. - Thomas Carlyle http://www.ffrf.org

Yeah, I’d like to see some details, too. This seems like a great idea.

-- Carvin' Tom, www.carvintom.blogspot.com

Don’t forget that the hovercraft was made practical by the addition of the air-trapping skirt around the perimeter. Something like this might improve the performance with the table saw.

-- My broker promised me he would treat my money as if it were his own. Trouble is, he did.

I am impressed! This is a great version of the commercial model I used for years. Air Sled uses 3/16” aluminum plate with a neoprene skirt to trap air at the edges and they easily move a fully loaded side x side refer. I dont need to relocate my tools very often but may make one of these for the fun of it.
Air Sled a video on their website showing one in action at the bottom of their page, but you wont get many tips on how they are made.
Steve has figured this out on his own and may do a blog if enough people ask very nice. hint,hint

-- If I can do it, so can you. www.artboxesbyandy.com

I would really like to know more about how this progresses. Great idea. Thank you.

-- Chance Four "Not Just a Second Chance"

Thanks Steve. How about a photo of what the underside looks like. Multiple holes?

-- Bill - Mesquite, TX --- "Everything with a power cord eventually winds up in the trash.” John Sarge , timber framer and blacksmith instructor at Tillers International school

Great adaptation of this type of appliance:
http://www.airsled.com/appliance.htm
We used these back when I was in college moving appliances.
I would have never thought of using them for the woodshop!

-- Randy -- Austin, TX by way of Northwest (Woodville), OH

great idea and build

a blog would be nice
when you get around to one

-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle

Andy’s Link to Air Sled apparently is incorrect… remove the word “HAS” from the end of the link… as corrected in this Post. The video is at the end of the lead-in article…

COOL device…

I think I’d rather make one… LOL

Andy, thank you for the Link & info.

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Love the idea, and the price at that link is insane. The floor being smooth looks to be the most important part.

-- Thank You Veterans!

Nice idea. Like JJohnson mentioned, maybe figure out a way to emulate those Navy amphibian hovercraft that don’t seem to have any problem on wavy ground. An old bicycle innertube????

-- Jim, Maryland