#air line for the jaws is 35-40 psi at the nearest regulator

[veresiine]

Today was one of those days that really made me feel my lack of coordination.

Among other things, we had tensile testing to do today . On fairly beefy stuff, so we had to use the pneumatic jaws on the tensile tester (personally I like the manual jaws instead). And thick samples, so we had to put in shims so the jaw faces would remain parallel. So that means I needed to, at once, have:

1 hand holding the shim in place, prior to closing the jaw

1 foot operating the foot pedals to control the pneumatic jaws

1 hand holding the sample in place; making sure it is perpendicular to the jaw faces and centered within the jaws when closing the top jaw, and applying a consistent downward force on the sample when closing the bottom jaw.

1 foot left to balance with, because I can't see what I need to see while I'm sitting so I have to stand

It's tricky. Fortunately it's not really time-sensitive. If I screw it up I can just try again as long as I don't damage the sample. If I do damage the sample I can either request my coworkers prep more samples or I can make them myself (as long as I promise not to light anything on fire).

On the subject of the tensile tester and the jaws, well, our tensile tester is a Shimadzu universal testing machine (not including model because identifiable). It is a very good instrument. It has a bunch of built-in safety alarms, plus a bunch more you can set as needed (custom program limits for force and displacement, physical stops you can set by sliding knobs). It's a bit of a drama queen, honestly. "You are fine," I tell it, several times a day, as I clear the latest alarm. But the alarms DO add a few layers of idiot-proofing, even if they trigger more than they probably ought to. The jaws, on the other hand, as that one post goes, "do not know the difference between metal and flesh, nor do they care". So I have to be careful to keep my fingers clear of them while I'm holding the shims and loading the sample.