A thread was started asking about pneumatic component sources and costs in the official Q&A…so I’m starting this thread so I, and others, can post.
Last year, I priced all the official pneumatic components through the suppliers I usually use (I do a lot of automation and controls on my job), and found that the parts are not really overpriced. The thing is that VEX pneumatics are industry standard parts from SMC Pneumatics (one of the leading pneumatic’s manufacturer’s), so you get a “reality check” and have to pay what we, in the real world, pay for stuff.
The only custom parts are the solenoid valve cable and the vex-metal cylinder brackets; everything else is stock components. Even the reservoirs can be ordered from SMC.
When I ordered pneumatics we never received the angle bracket that connects the end of the piston to the shaft. And have therefore never been able to use pneumatics.
Is this something that can be obtained separately or do we have to make them ourselves?
Here are the 2015 prices (when I did my research trying to find better prices) from industrial suppliers (I’ve left off the VEX-only parts): (you can google the various part numbers to find suppliers)
One of the things about buying fittings is that most distributors sell them in 5 or 10 packs. The VEX Bundles offer savings of ~$30-70 off of individual prices, so they really aren’t a bad deal. About the only thing I would buy as a single would be the extra reservoir’s, which you can get from distributors like Robomesh.
http://botsnstuff.com has a list of online shops where you can purchase each individual VEX pneumatic component available here. Additionally, RobotMesh has somewhat recently added individual pneumatic components to their store here. Some of the parts are more expensive through RobotMesh than through PLCCenter, but you do get free shipping in the US from RobotMesh on orders over $50.
This is exactly what I’m looking for. The price of buying individually seems to be half that of what vex sells, but still pretty expensive. Oh and clearly, this cable must be made of solid gold sprinkled with holy water by the pope himself to cost that much lol. But none the less, definitely going to be using these sources often.
I take that back. I was comparing the double acting on vex to single acting. The price is literally exactly the same. I applaud them for making pretty much no profit on these products. Still, I imagine pneumatic systems can be made cheaper now as you can use single solenoids for multiple cylinders.
