Table / shelf that lowers from ceiling

[Mike8560]

I'm going to be budin a new table and havi g limited space somone mentioned
it wod be cool to have a tablor storage that lowered onver your work table.
Just looking for any ideas for over table storage   
I'm thinking g for like when you make a
window bit the when you are working o. The nextwindow you CPU e have the last o e close at hand to libe up the zippers that connect them. That sorta  thing.

[Grebo]

That would be real cool Mike, long as you have a ceiling that will take it  :P

[Mike8560]

Ya I was thinking  also that i'd it did t lower it would need to be not to low to hit tour head bending over the table and not to high so you could reach it
I'll see what I come up with

[jsquail]

i store my roll good from the ceiling. By roll goods i mean welt, hidem, binder, etc. Not fabrics. These i store directly above my machine so i can pull them off the roll as i need then and eliminate waste. Typically i sew them right off the roll.

However, i was thinking about building a 64" wide rack that would hinge down from the ceiling to the edge of my table that could store my rolls of vinyls, sunbrella, etc. Drops down, roll off what u need, cut it and when not in use it would lock back to the ceiling.

I have limited room to work with too so i am starting to get creative with storage.

[Mike8560]

Storage isn't so much the problem.  But it's like what I said working enclosure panels Iyou need to keep the adjacent one to the one your making close at hand till it can go away.
I was thinking maybe a hindge also.

[JuneC]

Here's an option...

   http://www.garagestrategies.com/harken.htm

You could build one with block and tackle components to hoist it up.  Or buy something like this pre-made. 

June

[Darren Henry]

I'm thinking a cross breed between the one June mentioned a dumb waiter. If you ran the ropes over a pulley like that and then across the ceiling to another pulley you could hang sandbags over against the wall that would hold the table up. Set your height by adjusting the length of rope so that the sand bags sit on the floor in the "up" position. If your weights are balanced right it wouldn't take much of a pull on a draw cord to lower the table and either grab what you want or hook the cord on a hook and leave it down.

[Peppy]

Looks like they discontinued this thing-

http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?c=&p=48678&cat=3,43722,43759

I was thinking of it for over the fridge. Probably didn't work as well as you'd think. It'd suck to get a jar of honey off your bean.

[Chill]

We have a table like Darren and June described, but we use a small hand winch mounted on the wall to raise and lower it. The winch locks, but we have a safety loop and a hook in the ceiling. This "sky-table" lowers down over a work table, that gives it stability and keeps it from swinging. Sky-table and flat work on it can be hoisted up out of the way and the work table under it can be used.

[bobbin]

I think that's a great idea.  I was thinking about something along those lines to be able to store foam flat and out of the way in the area over my car in the garage bay.  The ceiling down there is 9' and so there is a lot of space to put to good use. 

I don't understand blocks and tackles, but know that a simple pulley system relies too much on physical strength to control the weight and could make could make raising and lowering the whole set-up risky for someone of limited strength. 

[Mike8560]

Chill do you have a pic?

[Darren Henry]

a simple pulley system relies too much on physical strength to control the weight and could make could make raising and lowering the whole set-up risky for someone of limited strength. 

That's where the sand bags come in. They are already "lifting" 90 % of the weight. If the system is balanced right you could throw the cat on the to shelf to lower that 500 lbs and it would slowly rise back up when the cat got off.