Regulate Air Flow with This Clever Linear Actuator Setup
According to YouTuber “MBcreates,” one of his favorite tools is a blow gun. This device can be used to clear chips when machining, rapidly cool off 3D prints, and other duties. Sometimes though, you would prefer to have a subtle rush of air out of this tool, rather than the full blast that occurs when you mash down the trigger.

While you could use a manual pressure regulator or flow control to take care of this, MB’ decided to instead progressively depress an intermediate blow gun’s trigger, plumbed to regulate air flow before it gets to the main gun. Trigger movement is taken care of via a clever linear actuator setup, made by adapting a screw to be turned by a servo motor, which then is twisted in and out of a nut encased in a 3D-printed frame.
The device is controlled by an Arduino Nano, which selects between one of four air flow settings selected by four buttons in a nicely-printed control box. In order to give the actuator a starting point for the four settings, the device goes through a homing routine where it hits a microswitch at the end of its travel.
Check out the video below to see how this device was built. Adapting the screw to create a linear actuator around 2:00 will be especially interesting for those who enjoy the mechanical side of making things!
It’s important to note here that air guns can cause safety hazards, so be sure to employ appropriate safety measures when using them!


