I went to the post office, grabbed food from McDonalds (mom wanted a mocha frappe bc I had a receipt with code to get her a free one), measured my wall to figure out where studs are and marked the spots (easy enough because there are recessed lines on the paneling just over the right spots). Going to need a 2x8 to span 3 studs to securely mount the holder for my monitor. Might check the workshop tomorrow to see if I have any boards that size. I know I have some thick large boards down at the barn but they need to be sanded. Helped mom with more organizing-- handing her bins & lids, taking full bins and moving and stacking. taking empty boxes out, etc. Then I was thinking about the sewing machine lift. I saw something for an RV where it is a powered jack but the motor thing is too expensive. Then someone on the houserepairtalk forum suggested a linear actuator. I found one with 16" stroke that can lift 225lbs. I saw someone used one to make a router lift. It's about $48 for the actuator.
Would I still need the guides? (I'm guessing "yes"). So I need to figure out the best way. I wonder if I can go back to the plan of making my own guides. I also considered a plan of using a threaded rod, cutting holes in some scrap wood blocks that are rectangular, having hex nuts on both top and bottom of the blocks and setting them just below the 3 heights where I will want the platform for the sewing machine to sit. A woodworking magazine suggested having plastic tubes that fit around the threaded piece snugly cut to size to help the blocks pivot. The magazine had threaded bolts in mind. Nice thing about a long rod and the nuts is that if at any point I want to change the heights, I can adjust them up or down.
Mom just paged and needs me to help her with something.