rails for sliding tv

hey guys, not strictly cnc and i'm sorry for that but i'm sure you guys will know the answer.

i'm looking to make a 24" tv slide in and out of a housing i am making. so first place i looked was at round rails but the price seems a bit high for what is going to be a cheap gimick.

can anyone think of something to use for linear motion that will happily hold a flat screen tv when extended and it not wobble all over the place?

preferably within a budget of £50. rough sizes of the rails would have been 800mm to give you an idea with around 400mm spacing between the bearings

I made one ages ago using heavy duty draw runners from screwfix. Standard draw runners arent very strong... however you can buy heavy duty versions?

800mm DRAWER SLIDES | eBay

Might be worth giving Ken Carter, Magnum (01472 353520) a quick buzz. When I converted my van into a motorhome I had some super quality sliders from there. I can't remember how much, but they weren't that dear. G.

Is the TV going to slide in/out horizontally or vertically?
Will the rails support the TV fully when it is extended?
What size / weight it the TV?

24" flat screen tv from Asda cheapo £140 jobby, and it'll be sliding up via an actuator which can lock out and take the down ward weight, all the sliders need to do is lift the tv up by about 400mm hence the 800mm rails

Wilfy, don't say you are making the TV lift out of the bed end as thats a lazy way to watch TV. The sliders I reffered to earlier will eat that job. G.

Nah not for in home it's for my boys in the back of a vivaro we just bought

24" levitating TV in the back of a vehicle - thats a bit luxurious. Bet you boys will love it. G.

What actuator are you using for this?

I dunno just some random thing I seen on ebay for around 50quid but the rails I quickly price were around that price again if not a little more. Looks like I'll have to stick some overtime in if Geoffrey's contact doesn't give me a good price.

As for it being luxurious sure it is, but it's a one time cost and its not likely we'll be going back to a car anytime soon. One of my boys is really behind on development and the other is even further behind due to prem birth and also due to the fact he has movement issues.

We both do a lot of driving and considering all the problems the boys have I don't consider a tv in the back to keep them occupied that big of a cost. I remember big long journeys as a kid with naff all to do in a car, I'd have loved a 24" tv and the way I see it is money is there to be spent, you can't enjoy it when it's sat in the bank.

Sorry to go off that wasn't a rant just can't help myself sometimes :)

Wilfy, give roy at ringwood precision engineering a try: 20mm Diameter 1000mm long bright mild steel round bar £10

Got to be cheaper than the precision rail we use here for building...

EDIT: Forgot to say, i've used this type of rail with SMA bearing units to build my own type of draw runners, been no problems.

EDIT 2: Think i'v got some new SMA20 units still boxed if you do use them, PM if intrested.

.Me

Reads like a good idea to me, do you already have a frame for this?

Wilfy,I had realized from a previous post that your lads have some problems. My niece has two boys (12 + 14) with duchenes m.d. so we are aware of the effort it takes. The luxurios comment was made with a smile, nothing will ever be too good for your lads. G.

How about the draw slides they use in Server racks? these really are heavy duty and take weight much higher that your TV. As somebody said here before the slides from screwfix are heavy duty, i used them for an X axis as an experiment and was pleasantly surprised.

Drawer Runners 500mm | Screwfix.com

ok well i just bagged a set of bearings and nearly all supports for 20mm rails these i know will be better than a set of draw runners and the price is better which certainly helps.

as i've been thinking about it tonight i could make this not need electric to start off with and then adapt that at a later date when my missus isnt stressing as much lol... watch for a build log for it on way :D i may even post a van thread aswell

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wilfy

I dunno just some random thing I seen on ebay for around 50quid but the rails I quickly price were around that price again if not a little more. Looks like I'll have to stick some overtime in if Geoffrey's contact doesn't give me a good price.

As for it being luxurious sure it is, but it's a one time cost and its not likely we'll be going back to a car anytime soon. One of my boys is really behind on development and the other is even further behind due to prem birth and also due to the fact he has movement issues.

We both do a lot of driving and considering all the problems the boys have I don't consider a tv in the back to keep them occupied that big of a cost. I remember big long journeys as a kid with naff all to do in a car, I'd have loved a 24" tv and the way I see it is money is there to be spent, you can't enjoy it when it's sat in the bank.

Sorry to go off that wasn't a rant just can't help myself sometimes :)

---

Are we there yet??

Rick

see i knew it was a good idea posting up on here about this topic.. whilst not strictly cnc, i still achieved the result i was after cheaper ways of making what i wanted.

big thanks to Lee for letting me have these for a good price and it was nice to meet a CnC member face to face for the first time, it was quite obvious if i wasnt working we coulda chatted for hours.

Attachment 8537

Brilliant. You'l have the best Z axis Vivaro in town. G.

Nice to meet you as well Chris, if you need a lift with anything mate just give me a bell.

.Me

so we have a kind of design... i've laredy re-done bit of this again, but it took me ages to make this nice picture so i'm sure you'll understand it

Attachment 8544

and here is the van and where it is going, behind the front seats of course

Attachment 8545