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I'll try and describe as best I can. I have a simple wooden cabinet, in which is a rack hifi system.

The front of the cabinet is a solid oak overlay door that swings out.

The top of the cabinet, the top surface of the cuboid if you like, is not yet affixed in any way.

Immediately underneath the top surface (again solid oak, about 2cm thick) , is a gramophone with a plastic dust cover lid-box...which for now I don't want to dispose of.

In order to use the gramophone, for the time being I have to remove the wood lid , open the plastic lid, play a record.

What I would like to be able to do this is use that wooden surface for some ornaments, and be able to push the lid or somehow activate the lid so that it rise vertically upwards and create space for me to reach in and use the gramophone.

There is space for four vertical struts in each corner and to be contained within the cabinet.

What sort of mechanism(s) would allow the lid to gently rise upwards by about 50cm, while the lid stays horizontal? I was thinking of just using a TV lift with diagonal brackets supporting the oak lid, but this looks rather expensive, and doesn't seem to offer a "push the lid down and it will slowly pop out" mechanism. Is there something simple involving eg: latches and gas struts that is available?

Thank you in advance for any help.

Frank
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  • A gramophone itself is a pretty sweet ornament. And it has a dust cover. You could put it on top for people to admire. Store records on the shelf where it is now. – Willk Mar 14 '21 at 16:23
  • @Willk Thanks, but no :-) It's staying in the cabinet. I've also routered out deep grooves in the lid to make sure no spillages transfer to the contents, and routered a lovely circle into the front door and glued an old record into it. – Frank Mar 14 '21 at 16:47
  • I would use a normal hinge, just the Mrs absolutely insists on putting seasonal decorations on the lid. Right now I've got little rabbits and eggs and whatnot sitting on top, so to play a record I have to ever-so-carefully lift the lid up, place it on the floor, then use the system. Pending a pop-to-open vertical lift system, this is my life! – Frank Mar 14 '21 at 16:48
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    A TV lift, while expensive, if the most straightforward off the shelf option, particularly for a dead-vertical lift. Not off the shelf, you're basically building a TV lift, and might save some money as a result. Or not, depending what goes wrong and how you value your time. – Ecnerwal Mar 14 '21 at 17:09

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I would consider two threaded rods in the back two corners that are rotated together and can drive up the lid.

They probaly need to be about 1/2” diameter as the lid length will cause a bending moment on the rods, unless you have extra sliding rods as well.

For initial testing a car wiper motor may be sufficiently slow - but that is easy to adjust when using toothed belts...

Solar Mike
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  • I would think 1 rod in each corner would assure that the lid stayed level, but if it's thick enough (or reinforced) to ensure it wouldn't bend & flex under whatever decorative weight was put on it, 2 at the back would work. A motor driving a gear meshed with a gear on one rod and a belt (toothed would be ideal, standard V would probably work just fine) to transfer power from one rod to the other seems like it would work quite nicely. If you went with 4 threaded rods, the belt could run around all 4 corners to drive them all evenly. – FreeMan Mar 15 '21 at 15:09
  • @FreeMan having 2 at the front would make it more difficult to put records on - which is why I went with only 2 at the rear. But does depend on the mass of thee lid + extras... – Solar Mike Mar 15 '21 at 15:38