I just saw this thread, and thought I would mention this. The idea of the “hover maslow” is very relevant here. Here is one thread Vacuum Sled Experiment. I think there is one more thread, but I couldn’t find it.
The hover-sled is good for several reasons:
- The blowing air reduces friction
- If designed correctly, the air flowing between the sled and the surface will actually create a venturi-effect and resist the sled lifting from the surface. This is one of those counterintuitive things that everyone will question.
- Most shop-vacs have an out port (my Ridgid does), so you can leverage the shop-vac to supply air for the hover mechanism. The shop-vac is already in place for dust-collection anyways. Re-route the air coming out of the shop-vac, to supply the air for the hover-sled.