Ideas or Hardware to Raise and Lower a Pedestal Cab

[wxforecaster]

I've been racking my brain about this idea I had for a mobile pedestal cabinet, a two player version of something roughly along the lines of the attached photo.

I thought it would be a really fun, and practical idea to build a pedestal cab that could be played sitting down on the couch or standing up, with the ability to pipe the display out to our TV or perhaps even have a alternate collapsable monitor that folds down behind the control panel. It's the standing vs. sitting part that has me stuck.

In any case, my desire is to have the control panel and some interior wood box inside the fixed lower base collectively raise and lower,  and "lock in" to certain holes along the outer sides of the cabinet. I was thinking perhaps some sort of spring/trigger grip handles under the control panel that would "release" the interior locking pins which would then "snap in" at the next hole closest to where you released to handles. But, I haven't a clue on what might already exist in terms of hardware or how to devise such a contraption.

If it would help for me to better graphically describe, let me know.

Your assistance and any accompanying pictorials would be most appreciated.

[EvilNuff]

You could make it a pedestal inside a pedestal with your locking mechanism at whatever intervals you wanted.  Check out crutches/canes that are adjustable they have essentially a bullet catch that you push in to adjust.  Or adjustable ladders which have a spring loaded metal U shaped rod that goes into the rungs to stop the action.

[vwalbridge]

This reminds me of that old saying:

"If you ask an engineer what time it is...they will tell you how to build a clock"

Since you already want to make it portable, then you have already answered you own question. Build the Control panel so that it runs self-contained. Then build it so that it is detachable from the pedestal. Then build a smaller (coffee table height) stand for it to attach to when you want to sit and play on it. Boom, done.

Maybe I'm missing something here but engineering the mechanics to have it raise and lower sounds like far more trouble that it's worth. Please help me understand.

[BadMouth]

They make brackets for lift top coffee tables that bring the top of the table up and toward the couch.
Not sure how much weight they can support.
That would bring it toward you for playing on the couch if needed.

For the up and down, you'd need some type of rails to keep it aligned.
Having it so everything feels solid would be the tricky part.
Linear bearings would be cost prohibitive.
Look at what people are using for large homemade CNC machines.
I'd probably go with steel square or angle stock with rollerblade wheels on opposing sides.
Or maybe use pipe with double rollerblade wheels on each side.

You'd need a linear actuator to raise and lower it, but for the weight and distance it will probably be crazy slow. 
(like 30 seconds or a minute of grinding sounds to change positions)
You could manually lift it and then have some type of catch, but you'd probably need one person on each side.

[wxforecaster]

Only the CP and the "inner" support box would raise up and down, so weight wise I really think this is a one-person job.  I suppose it could be powered, but I figured that would be overkill (and painfully slow).

My thought was to guide whatever lifting mechanism by a slide -- sort of akin to mounting drawer slides in the vertical -- but it's the lock/release that I can't wrap my headaround.

vwalbridge, I really don't want a separate CP. I'd like to build a solid, sturdy, fully contained pedestal that looks like a solid piece of furniture whether it's completely lowered to the fixed base, or raised to it's maximum height (approx 14-16" from min to max). I have a lot of other things planned that would prohibit just building a "standalone" CP, but I do definitely appreciate the effort. Sometimes it's easy to overlook the most obvious solution!

[BadMouth]

but it's the lock/release that I can't wrap my headaround.

Search the interwebs for "pull pin"
and "spring latch"

[wxforecaster]

Ahhh I see what you're talking about. Definitely some options I hadn't seen (Googling the wrong words)

I also Googled linear actuators and now I'm fascinated. I always thought these were painfully slow as in several seconds per inch, but they actually are fairly inexpensive at several inches per second.

It might actually be cool (tech) to power them with a toggle switch. Either using one with a "bar" bracket spanned across the underside of the CP, or two of them (one per side) wired in parallel. Some drawer slides could be used as guides to maintain spacing and ensure no lateral movement.

[yotsuya]

You could always keep it simple...






*Sorry, but this was the first thing that came to mind when I read what you wanted to do. Aim higher!!!

[PL1]

The mechanism/geometry that comes to mind is something like a transmission jack, but not as ugly and free-rolling. (Bonus: tilt mechanism allows you to adjust the slope of the control panel)

 

YMMV.


Scott

[yotsuya]

Whatever you do,  make sure it's safe for little fingers. Don't want them getting pinched!

[zerohex]

You can adapt this into the cabinet in some way.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electric-Height-Adjustable-Desk/

or the manual crank route which is pretty cool

[BigCurtis]

Take a look at this video. Steal some ideas. No electronics required, gravity counter weight, quick "lock/unlock" system for altitude change. I plan to utilize something similar when I get to work on my pedestal cabinet.