I want to build cabinets for the bathroom. The bathroom scale is always one of those items that is space cluttering. I am looking for ideas on how toe build a drawer in the kick space of the cabinet to house the scale. The features it should have are:
1. Self opening toe kick
2. A mechanism to transfer the weight of a person so that it does not roll when stepped on. Very much like those step stools used in kitchens that are on rollers but lock when weight is placed on them. Or any other ingenious suggestions.
3. Easy to close with the a foot.
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Pretty good idea, but aren't people prone to using the scale expecting to see the scale. Maybe you just need a aesthetically pleasing scale;
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Mike
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.
That scale ain't no goo Mike! It goes over 180#s!
Someone who weighed 280 probably wouldn't be able to see the scale without a mirror.
So blue, how many years have you weighed 180#'s? Mike
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.
Dad built a drawer under the vanity, that incorporated a length of the toe kick, had two small wheels on the front, and a 3/4 plywood panel that was inleted into the top, for my brother and I to stand on to get to the basin when we were little.
The same basic idea would work for a scale, with just the toe kick height, if you used one of the thin digital scales.
A mechanical item would be tough to build. I'm sure it can be done but would be a project.
A motorized screw that moves a platter that has electronic or electrical stops on it would be easier for me (I'm a civil engineer by training but I think the elecrical stuff would be easier)
Sort of like those auto tv stands that raise the tv up.
the toe kick would be affixed to the front and the whole platter would move as one and then step up and on.
Pretty nifty idea but it would take a bit of work and a little machining, etc.
I think I would hinge the platform on one side with a weight-bearing pivot, use a touch-latch on the other side, so you could just kick to open and kick to close. You might need a spring to help it to pop open enough to get your foot on the edge to open it the rest of the way.
The actual platform would be cut to an arc of radius = width of the movable portion of the toe kick, limited, of course, by the depth of the cabinet. I'd mount a fixed caster at the front of the platform and two more at 60° and 120°.
My father-in-law, now 83 years old, invented such a drawer in the kick space of the cabinet for housing a bathroom scale. Named the "Hide-A-Weigh," this drawer opens and closes with an electric motor. He holds a US Patent on his invention, and is presently trying to license the patent for manufacture and marketing of this product. The inventor worked in construction for over 60 years as a private contractor and carpenter.
The patent allows for considerable flexibility: the device can be used for housing a bathroom scale, a dog's food bowl, as a gun safe, or any other possible use of the space. This product is compatible for new construction, remodel or retrofit. If you know of a manufacturer that would be interested in licensing this patent, please refer them to me at this website. All of the specs for the "Hide-A-Weigh" are included in the patent documents. The price for licensing the patent is $100,000.00 USD, plus 10% of all future sales.
I see a set of ball bearing drawer slides with a steel pan and spring loaded risers that hold the pan up to clear carpets etc until you step on it, then it drops to sit firmly on the floor. Use some kind of pull on the front that is easy to grab with a toe (Like follow the contour of the kick up and have a little lip in front) or try to get fancy with a motorized deal
I say KISS
Maybe Blum full extension slides with the drawer bottom spring mounted so the bottom rests firmly on the floor when you stand on it but lifts when you step off. Man ..all this material and I don't have one funny thing to say!