Excellent update! Just watched your first video too. You have crafted an excellent looking and working device. Take care. I'm in the market for something for my dog.
Since you have auto stop at both ends and the stop switch stays on you can parallel off the up and down switches with 2 cables for top and bottom recall switches on the wall. Hide the cables along the track.
I used garage door tracks and wheels for mine out of concern that the unit might tip or come off the tracks. Also try to center the lift cable side-to-side to reduce torqueing. I also added the switch. Mine is installed outdoors. Thanks again for this. It’s been a life changer for my wife.
Thanks , I'm glad I made it when I did , I'm 73 now and wife 74 , we still use the stairs most times but it's good to send a washing basket full of groceries up , Hasn't missed abeat when elderly visitors need a lift 🧓👴
This is dangerous. You have no safety features. If the anchor point at the top of the stairs fails, the seat with the weight of the winch and passenger with cause it to roll down the rails at a high speed, causing serious injury. Also, as one commenter said, if you should put too much weight on the foot rest the whole contraption will tilt off the rails.
You could use a tension safety brakes such as what made Otis Elevators famous. However, I agree with you that most of these winch based DIY solutions omit such basic safety considerations which really wouldn't be too hard to implement... Another thing these DIY solutions do are to use horizontal rails rather than cantilever off a vertical rail for a smaller footprint and less of a trip hazard. The other detail often missed are call buttons. Fortunately, this ine at least have switched to stop the winch once the chair reachs it's destination though I would've used a photoelectric eye as well as a rubber stop and overcurrent cutoff in case the sensors fail. What these imperfect DIY solutions tell me id that stair assist installers overprice their installations. I remember that during the early days of Ali-express, you could order the rails and chair direct from the manufacturer in China for a veey low price. Listings for these are terribly difficult to find now. I suspect that we won't see improvements in cost till 3d printers can work with stronger materials (commercial 3d printers and CNC machines already do but aren't really affordable for the home DIY'er yet).
ahhh thats why, my stairs are only 30" wide which explains everything.ok well thanks for getting back to me so quickly. il have to go back to the drawing board lol. im thinking of running a wheel track/bracket diagonally up the wall and attach a folding arm chair contraption somehow and run the winch cable in the track or something along them lines and add an electric cable retractor also so the cable doesnt get tangled up and box in the winch and cable retractor somewhere under the chair or at the base or top of the stairs. like i said il have to go back a step now. thanks again.
That’s pretty awesome! One more upgrade: make the foot rest larger so you can use to send more groceries up on the footrest. Also would be neat if you could figure out a call button system like on a elevator so you could call it to you from the top or bottom.
I'd be worried that a foot-rest sticking out more would increase the risk of the whole thing tipping sideways, should you put weight on the footrest before sitting on the chair...
Interesting idea but this clearly goes beyond the usual DIY in terms of planning, sourcing the required parts, fiddling with the technical aspects, safety & fine tuning to get it to work. Unless there's some pre-made kits out there sold based on stair length, stair inclination angle...such that the only task to do to get it installed is the drilling of holes on the staircase wall to mount this elevator structure to it.
I think it is great , could you give me the domination , and did you have to modify your extention cord , I looked at some and the plugs where reversed ..
I’ll try and do some plans sometime, as I just made it as I went by trying it then changing a few things , I’m now nearly 75 and my wife is 76 and recently broke her arm near her shoulder so uses the elevator daily now .
hi barry. could you please tell me how wide your staircase is and also the width of the base unit as it looks like you have a good bit of space between the wall/railing and the face of the chair lift.ive got a similar chair and base unit like yourself but when i done the measurements it doesnt leave me much space for traveling up the stairs by foot.(say about a "ft" if that). cheers.
Greetings from Rome, Barry 😀 First of all, THANK YOU, GENIOUS!!! I have a question if you don't mind: what would you do if you had stair cases with a 180° turn? I'd like to built your lift for my parents apartment (79 and 82) before they stop walking completely. Thank you so much. If you ever come to visit Rome, I'd love to shake your hand, for you are a truly remarkable inventor 🤝
Immmm that’s a bit tricky without seeing your stairs , maybe you would need two seperate chair lifts , yes we would love to come to Rome but we are still in lock down in New Zealand, can’t see us travelling for a couple of years then could be past it 😭
Thank you @@barryjames9688.. Yes, 2 chair lifts might be ideal as its a quite tricky set of stairs 😑 good luck down there.. Here it has been hell during lock down. And still now its not easy to see light at the end of the tunnel 🙄
@@valentinafiorini5324 I built one years ago with my grandfather for my grandmother that went up a curved staircase. I wish I had more details but my grandfather used a channel attached to the wall that supported the chair and it used a gear drive driven by a drill to go up and down. The track supported most of the weight and had a wheel towards the bottom too. I forget the track he used but it was similar to what is used for rollup garage doors and came from a industrial supply place.
Hello sir Can you show and explain inside the box...and how to install components there....and how is that auto stop switch is working and wire connection
Look at my first video it explains Abit more , the top switch came with the winch , the bottom switch has a long toggle that hits the wooden block and switch's off the power cord live wire . You do need some handy man skills and lots of tools to build an elevator .
Barry James Thank you very much for reply sir, Highly appreciated, I need made it for my son,because he is handicap, Thanks again .....you share your knowledge with everyone..... That was amazing..... Cheers 🥂 from Denmark 🇩🇰
I want to install it for 120kg for patients at my clinic who have minor surgeries so they don't have to come down or climb up the stairs I have small place so elevator can't be install I had this idea but I didn't know to make it possible as I am a doctor so now I can take this idea try to make it on my own, I have a Question should I use heavy winch as patients varies weight? Thanks alot for such a wonderful machine
Yes , you can get bigger winches that will lift up to 400 kg , they are a little bit wider but not much bigger , it just means you would need to build a bigger box . We are using ours every day especially if elderly visitors come ,
@@ihsanmirza383 sorry it would be difficult to show you , I should have done a video while I was building the elevator . You will need some skill at building things but it's basically a square piece of MDF with a winch and cord rewinder bolted on ,. then a box to cover it and sit on .
If you were in the UK, you'd have to consider 'Health and Safety' legislation for something like this being used by the public. You could have some very nasty legal problems!!
@@richardking6066 Not to mention residential use as well! Idea is great, safety is the more challenging part or lifts, dumb waiters, elevators, etc. (Even the high quality ones can fail)
Sorry no , I just designed it as I built it , the cable was the tricky bit as it goes side to side while winding on the winch spool so I had to run it through 2 pulleys so it came out the box straight up the stairs .
Sorry Rob I'm away on holiday , It's a piece of flat steal with 4 holes drilled in the corners and the axle bolt welded in the centre , hope that helps.
Hello Barry, now that you have 1000 subscribers, you can apply for monetization on TH-cam for your channel. Then YT will advertise before and after your videos and you will make money.
I've been looking at used, commercially made, stair lifts and it seems like I could maybe get one for something like the same cost as this home-made one. However, I am still inclined to make one like just this, as its simplicity, and ease of repair make it quite desirable! No need to pay for an expensive service every year! The only advantage I can see of the commercially made one, is that they are very quiet in operation - where I can see that this might wake someone up if you used it in the middle of the night.
Excellent update! Just watched your first video too. You have crafted an excellent looking and working device. Take care. I'm in the market for something for my dog.
did you figure out something for your dog? That is what I am trying to find too. Even one you do by hand would work for me I think
Since you have auto stop at both ends and the stop switch stays on you can parallel off the up and down switches with 2 cables for top and bottom recall switches on the wall. Hide the cables along the track.
Thank you sir. Great craftsmanship too
Dude you’re a hero. I bet this helped so many people
Good idea
I used garage door tracks and wheels for mine out of concern that the unit might tip or come off the tracks. Also try to center the lift cable side-to-side to reduce torqueing. I also added the switch. Mine is installed outdoors. Thanks again for this. It’s been a life changer for my wife.
Thanks for the update Barry 👍
How do you have the wire rope anchored at the top of the stairs? Could you please show in a video, many thanks!
Thanks for sharing means a lot for me
You are amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks , I'm glad I made it when I did , I'm 73 now and wife 74 , we still use the stairs most times but it's good to send a washing basket full of groceries up , Hasn't missed abeat when elderly visitors need a lift 🧓👴
Awesome ❤
This is dangerous. You have no safety features. If the anchor point at the top of the stairs fails, the seat with the weight of the winch and passenger with cause it to roll down the rails at a high speed, causing serious injury. Also, as one commenter said, if you should put too much weight on the foot rest the whole contraption will tilt off the rails.
You could use a tension safety brakes such as what made Otis Elevators famous. However, I agree with you that most of these winch based DIY solutions omit such basic safety considerations which really wouldn't be too hard to implement...
Another thing these DIY solutions do are to use horizontal rails rather than cantilever off a vertical rail for a smaller footprint and less of a trip hazard. The other detail often missed are call buttons. Fortunately, this ine at least have switched to stop the winch once the chair reachs it's destination though I would've used a photoelectric eye as well as a rubber stop and overcurrent cutoff in case the sensors fail.
What these imperfect DIY solutions tell me id that stair assist installers overprice their installations.
I remember that during the early days of Ali-express, you could order the rails and chair direct from the manufacturer in China for a veey low price. Listings for these are terribly difficult to find now. I suspect that we won't see improvements in cost till 3d printers can work with stronger materials (commercial 3d printers and CNC machines already do but aren't really affordable for the home DIY'er yet).
It's a good idea when you're attracting salesman😅
thankyou to make me solve the problem.
ahhh thats why, my stairs are only 30" wide which explains everything.ok well thanks for getting back to me so quickly. il have to go back to the drawing board lol. im thinking of running a wheel track/bracket diagonally up the wall and attach a folding arm chair contraption somehow and run the winch cable in the track or something along them lines and add an electric cable retractor also so the cable doesnt get tangled up and box in the winch and cable retractor somewhere under the chair or at the base or top of the stairs. like i said il have to go back a step now. thanks again.
Great job!!! I'd like to know how you prevented the auto cord winder from locking up please!
Thank you for your video. You saved us $3,600 replacement by using a winch instead of a new chair.lift..
That’s pretty awesome! One more upgrade: make the foot rest larger so you can use to send more groceries up on the footrest. Also would be neat if you could figure out a call button system like on a elevator so you could call it to you from the top or bottom.
Ha ha , yes I've been trying to dream up a way to bring the lift down with a button , at the moment we always send it down if going to get groceries 😃
I'd be worried that a foot-rest sticking out more would increase the risk of the whole thing tipping sideways, should you put weight on the footrest before sitting on the chair...
Interesting idea but this clearly goes beyond the usual DIY in terms of planning, sourcing the required parts, fiddling with the technical aspects, safety & fine tuning to get it to work. Unless there's some pre-made kits out there sold based on stair length, stair inclination angle...such that the only task to do to get it installed is the drilling of holes on the staircase wall to mount this elevator structure to it.
I think it is great , could you give me the domination , and did you have to modify your extention cord , I looked at some and the plugs where reversed ..
Thank you for your brilliant ideas.
How does your box look inside?
Thanks
I’ll try and do some plans sometime, as I just made it as I went by trying it then changing a few things , I’m now nearly 75 and my wife is 76 and recently broke her arm near her shoulder so uses the elevator daily now .
hi barry. could you please tell me how wide your staircase is and also the width of the base unit as it looks like you have a good bit of space between the wall/railing and the face of the chair lift.ive got a similar chair and base unit like yourself but when i done the measurements it doesnt leave me much space for traveling up the stairs by foot.(say about a "ft" if that). cheers.
My stairs are 36 inches wide and my trolley is 17 inches wide , if walking downstairs I only have 24 inches to pass then have the rest as normal
Nice
Barry james can u tell me the winch type and what locking system used. Please
Try looking on Amazon for 'Hoists' and you should see one identical to that used here. They seem to cost half the price of '12v vehicle Winches'
Greetings from Rome, Barry 😀 First of all, THANK YOU, GENIOUS!!! I have a question if you don't mind: what would you do if you had stair cases with a 180° turn? I'd like to built your lift for my parents apartment (79 and 82) before they stop walking completely. Thank you so much. If you ever come to visit Rome, I'd love to shake your hand, for you are a truly remarkable inventor 🤝
Immmm that’s a bit tricky without seeing your stairs , maybe you would need two seperate chair lifts , yes we would love to come to Rome but we are still in lock down in New Zealand, can’t see us travelling for a couple of years then could be past it 😭
Thank you @@barryjames9688.. Yes, 2 chair lifts might be ideal as its a quite tricky set of stairs 😑 good luck down there.. Here it has been hell during lock down. And still now its not easy to see light at the end of the tunnel 🙄
@@valentinafiorini5324 I built one years ago with my grandfather for my grandmother that went up a curved staircase. I wish I had more details but my grandfather used a channel attached to the wall that supported the chair and it used a gear drive driven by a drill to go up and down. The track supported most of the weight and had a wheel towards the bottom too. I forget the track he used but it was similar to what is used for rollup garage doors and came from a industrial supply place.
I should add that the drill was mains powered and it had a very simple ratcheting lock attached to a lever. It just rode against the geared track.
@@southjerseysound7340 thank you so much for the info! I will try to do something similiar, then. thanks a lot again
Hello sir
Can you show and explain inside the box...and how to install components there....and how is that auto stop switch is working and wire connection
Look at my first video it explains Abit more , the top switch came with the winch , the bottom switch has a long toggle that hits the wooden block and switch's off the power cord live wire . You do need some handy man skills and lots of tools to build an elevator .
Barry James
Thank you very much for reply sir,
Highly appreciated,
I need made it for my son,because he is handicap,
Thanks again .....you share your knowledge with everyone.....
That was amazing.....
Cheers 🥂 from Denmark 🇩🇰
@@barryjames9688 I wonder if the base 'trolley' is just a flat piece of timber, or if you fabricated a metal-framed trolley using angle iron??
@@richardking6066 it’s just a flat piece of MDF , the winch is bolted directly to it with big flat washers underneath.
I want to install it for 120kg for patients at my clinic who have minor surgeries so they don't have to come down or climb up the stairs I have small place so elevator can't be install I had this idea but I didn't know to make it possible as I am a doctor so now I can take this idea try to make it on my own, I have a Question should I use heavy winch as patients varies weight?
Thanks alot for such a wonderful machine
Yes , you can get bigger winches that will lift up to 400 kg , they are a little bit wider but not much bigger , it just means you would need to build a bigger box . We are using ours every day especially if elderly visitors come ,
@@barryjames9688 thanks alot sir, do u have a video of making the box and all the other stuff? I am finding really difficult to adjust things together
@@ihsanmirza383 sorry it would be difficult to show you , I should have done a video while I was building the elevator . You will need some skill at building things but it's basically a square piece of MDF with a winch and cord rewinder bolted on ,. then a box to cover it and sit on .
If you were in the UK, you'd have to consider 'Health and Safety' legislation for something like this being used by the public. You could have some very nasty legal problems!!
@@richardking6066 Not to mention residential use as well! Idea is great, safety is the more challenging part or lifts, dumb waiters, elevators, etc. (Even the high quality ones can fail)
Do you have any plans for sale?
Sorry no , I just designed it as I built it , the cable was the tricky bit as it goes side to side while winding on the winch spool so I had to run it through 2 pulleys so it came out the box straight up the stairs .
Barry can you show me the metal support of each of the wheels
Sorry Rob I'm away on holiday , It's a piece of flat steal with 4 holes drilled in the corners and the axle bolt welded in the centre , hope that helps.
Try looking for 'Fixed Casters' on Ebay !
Hello Barry, now that you have 1000 subscribers, you can apply for monetization on TH-cam for your channel. Then YT will advertise before and after your videos and you will make money.
I've been looking at used, commercially made, stair lifts and it seems like I could maybe get one for something like the same cost as this home-made one. However, I am still inclined to make one like just this, as its simplicity, and ease of repair make it quite desirable! No need to pay for an expensive service every year! The only advantage I can see of the commercially made one, is that they are very quiet in operation - where I can see that this might wake someone up if you used it in the middle of the night.