Lift Up TV Table/Stand

[frequent2]

Hi All,

I am thinking about building a lift up TV stand for a flat screen LCD TV.

I have tried searching for a picture of one but have not seen any.

My idea would be a stand that is about 48" wide, 36" deep and about 24" high. The top of the table will have a hinge and will be able to be lifted up 90 degrees to reveal a flat screen TV mounted to the bottom of the table top. Once you are done watching TV the top can be put down, hiding the TV.

Here are some things that I think might be problems:

-Hinges - the TV will be about 60 pounds plus the weight of the top

-Top supports - when in the open position I would like to have supports like the ones used for toy boxes or trunks to hold it in the open position, but again I think there will be a weight issue

-When the stand is in the closed position the TV will be hanging up side down. Will this cause any damage to the TV?

Thanks for any input that you may have.

[dealweb]

When I looked into doing something for my flat screen I went a different route and was looking to have the TV lift up something like so: http://www.thehardwarehut.com/catalo...p?p_ref=175004

But in the end it was too cost prohibitive and now the TV just sits on an old cabinet.

[LCHIEN]

there are vertical lift mechanisms that use manual operation with counterbalances or auto opertions with both motors and counterbalances (for remote operation).
That's clearly the way to go.
You might do a search for vertical TV Lift on Google.

[billwmeyer]

Great idea. I have never used one, but I wonder if you can adapt one of the sewing machine lifts? That is the only thing I can think of that fits that discription:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...machine%20lift

Bill

[LCHIEN]

Great idea. I have never used one, but I wonder if you can adapt one of the sewing machine lifts? That is the only thing I can think of that fits that discription:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...machine%20lift

Bill

i think the weight range of a sewing machine would be a lot off of a larger flat screen TV. A sewing machine would be around 15-20 lbs, a 40-60 inch TV would be around 60 to 100 lbs. The spring counterbalance for a seweing machine would not be able to budge a TV.

[billwmeyer]

You are probably right. I haven't been around sewing machines for several years. I remember the one my mom had was a heavy beast. That was the only mechanism I remember seeing that might work other than the very high priced tv lifts.

Bill

[cwithboat]

How 'bout adapting the tailgate mechanism from a big SUV?

[dewi1219]

I was looking at doing a DIY lift a while back and found this. This guy actually made his own lift with a motor, some allthread, drawer slides, and a couple of car brake switches used as limits. It's a little scary-looking, but he claimed it worked like a charm. I know it doesn't really apply to a flip top, but maybe it will give you some ideas. Plus I think it's kinda cool