Build Your Own Home Theater Projector Lift

Few things say "I've made it" like a good home theater. And thanks to technological advancements, you can get a decent projector at a pretty good price. But many people are hesitant to purchase projectors and one of the major reasons for that is mounting. While some short-throw projectors can be positioned very close to the screen, most need some distance. That means they need to be in the middle of the room — right where you want to sit. Mounting on the ceiling is good solution, and Sam Baker's DIY scissor lift keeps the projector out of the way when it isn't in use.

This scissor lift system provides a couple feet of drop. To determine if that will work for you, you'll need to check the mounting height recommended by the projector manufacturer (relative to the screen) and subtract that from your ceiling height. It should work for most projectors and most homes with eight-foot ceilings, as it will put the projector at a height of around six feet. The great thing about this design is that it retracts up into a small box on the ceiling, so nobody has to worry about banging their head on the projector unless it is movie time.

To keep costs down, all of the lift's mechanical parts are 3D-printable. That includes the parallel linkages of the scissors and the lead screw that actuates them. Even though the parts are plastic, this lift is quite rigid—especially compared to cable lifts that let the projector sway to and fro. Baker designed this for his own projector, which has a pivoting mount to level the picture. So if your own projector has something else, you may need to tweak the design.

A stepper motor spins the lead screw that actuates the scissors and an Arduino Nano Every controls that stepper motor through a generic driver board. The Arduino monitors two limit switches at the ends of the lead screw to ensure that it doesn't rotate too far. The Arduino also has a connected infrared sensor, which lets it read incoming signalsfrom infrared remotes. Baker used a dedicated remote for that purpose, but many remotes use infrared LEDs and so it is possible to make this work with a remote you already have — you just need to configure the sketch to work with the infrared code that it sends when you push the button you want.

If you want to build this projector lift yourself, Baker is selling a package for $10 that includes all of the 3D-printable models, code, and a complete BoM (Bill of Materials).