Looking for a whachamacallit

[DanEpps]

I'm looking for a piece of hardware but I don't know what it is called.

It is a metal "track" about 3/4 inch wide and is used to make height adjustments. It has an inverted stair step design and uses a spring-loaded bolt/latch to hold the desired position.

Any ideas on (a) what it is called and (b) where I can find it? I have searched for "height adjustment track" and similar but got no results.

The track looks somewhat like this:

Height Adj Track.jpg (11.07 KiB) Viewed 15435 times

[George Davidson]

Hi Dan here is something new on the Web.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007 ... reated.htm

[Ted Kittleson]

Dan,
I think you are looking for a "pawl and ratchet mechanism".
Here is one for a Morris chair: http://www.hardwaretree.com/products.php?cat=149
and here is a bracket: http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page. ... 50659&ap=1

I hope that helps, or at least narrows ypur search.
Ted

[DanEpps]

Thanks Ted. Pawl and ratchet is probably exactly the term I'm looking for. The part you linked to won't work but it gives me something else to search on.

This is for a height adjustable tray that "climbs" a single standard.

[George Davidson]

Would it be like on a drill press
The call that a gear rack
http://www.qtcgears.com/RFQ/Racks.htm

[DanEpps]

No, it is more like a shelf. The track (rack) is dadoed into the standard and the tray (shelf) has the pawl.

A good analogy is an artist's easel where the center standard has an adjustable tray for holding paint, brushes, etc. You can raise it by simply pulling it up but you have to pull the "latch" to lower it.

[Joe Redburn]

Rev a Shelf makes a plastic one the fits in the drawer bottom for adjustable partitions.
regards
Joe