Jackhammers...

[FishBoy]

I was wondering how the pneumatics of a Jackhammer work, anybody know? I was thinking it would be cool to make a mini one, even if it didn't quite work.

[Ragnarok]

I was wondering how the pneumatics of a Jackhammer work, anybody know?

Unfortunately, I used to have a book that explained it with nice diagrams, but I got rid of it only a couple of weeks ago.

Hmm, the internet seems to be rather lacking in anything about them. I would have expected how stuff works to have an explanation...

What I can remember is that they're not particularly simple, and wouldn't be an easy project.

[FishBoy]

ok, this is mainly out of curiosity

[Ragnarok]

ok, this is mainly out of curiosity

Well, IIRC, they're basically a pneumatically driven hammer/weight that strikes the back of the drill bit, a bit like you might use a hammer and chisel.

[Biopyro]

I'd assume its a QEV which vents into the cylinder where the drill bit is, pushing the bit down. then a second QEV vents under the bit to push it up again. (air is released after each stage and the QEV's run on pressure switches)

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Sounds like it would make one hell of a full auto pneumatic breech

[Ragnarok]

Sounds like it would make one hell of a full auto pneumatic breech

Actually, I've developed something around a similar concept - it can reload as fast as the chamber can reset for the next shot.

[Pilgrimman]

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/jackhammer.html

This kind of helps. There is a .gif animation.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Interesting, for some reason reminds me of this design...

[Pilgrimman]

Ha ha yeah I tried to link to it directly, but it wouldn't work, so I said "Screw it" and linked to the page instead

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Didn't even try to link it, I figured they'd be protective of their precious animation so uploaded it here directly

[CS]

Ch-Check it out...

How To Make A Pneumatic Engine