re-use of gas springs

They are regularly used as a tensioner, rather than a coil spring, by folks who are building belt grinders.
The machines are often used for knifemaking and frequently feature a 2"x72" belt.

If I'm re-using something similar, normally a car shock absorber/damper, I just cut into the outer cylinder with a hacksaw, which releases the pressurised gas in a reasonably controlled manner.
Just keep it pointing downwards and cut the uphill bit, to save getting showered in the oily contents.

As an aside, if you ever get involved in dealing with a car fire, keep out of the line of fire behind the car, as I'm informed, by those who practice this stuff professionally, that they can explode and shoot out the ram like a crossbow bolt.

Bill

The rods are great for all kinds of stuff. I have used them for DTI mount arms.

Office chair rams are another great source of thick walled steel tubing with ground finish. You can turn off the end of the outer tube to release them but be damn sure that they are no longer charged with gas.

This type of device can be used as a counterbalance for the (moving) head of small mills.

I have some surplace ones, and agree with Peter, that they have potential with assistance with mill heads, if the overall lengths and stroke would match. I have thoughts about the knee of the Tom Senior light vertical which needs the longer handle fitted when the heavy rotary table is fitted. I bought a gas strut for replacing the seat strut on my Suzuki 400 Burgman, and after googling, found a firm which makes custom lengths, strokes, force and end fittings at very reasonable prices. I checked the force on the existing inadequate strut on the bathroom scales using a pad to protect the glass top and added 25% to custom strut power, and it is a great improvement.

If a custom made strut is needed, I have found the firm who supplied my seat strut exactly the size I wanted.

**LINK**

.

That’s useful to know

… duly bookmarked.

MichaelG.

You can also buy them too strong, and lower the pressure until you get what you need.

I ordered some from Ebay for my jeeps rear hatch, they are a lot more powerful than the originals, it now reminds me of Arkwright's till!

I've collected a few old shock absorbers with plans to use them for something but all I do is move them out of the way every few years.

Thought I was alone in that...

Something I noted today, as the rear hatch of my car closed onto my head, is that they ain't as powerful in very cold weather.

Rob

That's the difference between new and knackered ones. You get the same effect with the shock absorbers; even ones that pass the 'bounce test' can be doing very little.

I have the rods from two pairs of front struts that look useful. They're 20mm hard chrome plated rods about 400mm long, and were free. One of the potential jobs is to make a taper turning attachment for my WM250

How does one discharge the gas in order to cut them up safely, or do you just set the horizontal bandsaw up and run like hell ?

Doug

Chop the end off the cylinder with an angle grinder. There isn't much gas and/or oil in a good one, and tired ones are usually anti-climactic

But, ensure you're wearing goggles, and don't stand in line with the cut. If you're breaking down bigger gas springs, like the macpherson struts I mentioned, drill a small hole first.