Hello. I have a frame of sorts that lets me move a camera horizontally and vertically. What I really need is an elegant way to move the vertical assembly up and down and lock it into any position quickly and easily without resorting to a motorized solution. I thought about drilling hole into a 1x2 and putting a bolt through the holes to lock the assembly in place but that isn't very convenient and it doesn't allow me to lock the assembly at any height. I thought about installing eye bolts and using say paracord to manually pull the assembly up and down and just hold it in place but that would be a pain and I really need to lock the assembly without it moving at all. I also thought about setting up a spring loaded bolt so I could squeeze two boards together to move the assembly up and down and release the boards to lock it into place in the nearest hole but then I can't lock it any where I want and I don't think that would work very well. If anyone has a suggestion about how I accomplish this using my current design I would really appreciate your feedback. The assembly will weigh about 5 pounds total with the equipment on it. Here's a link to a demo of what i'm working with: Demo.gif Here's a link to my Sketchup 2018 .skp file. 2 Axis.skp
Counterweight it so it naturally wants to stay put wherever you let go and then just use a simple spring loaded friction brake against the vertical rails to hold it in place.
Thank you that is a genius idea. I like the idea of counter weighting it. I forgot I actually thought about some kind of friction brake but when I tried to look into how I could make one I didn't really find anything simple but reading your suggestion I think I have a few new ideas for that which would work. Thank you.
