Looking for alternative to a spring mechanism

rahul.dhir

I was considering hydraulics as well, but i doubt that will meet my required budget..

Danger

Pretty much, although the real scammers are very slightly more subtle.
My whole point of mentioning syringes is that they're dirt-cheap at a drugstore. Depending upon the laws where you live, you might even find them in a hospital garbage bin. That's illegal here, but different localities have different rules. Also, I didn't mean to use them as hydraulic cylinders in your case. Just coat a sheet-metal screw with silicone sealant and drive it into the nozzle from the inside. You'll have a perfect seal, and the unit will behave like a gas strut as is used on automotive hatch-backs.

rahul.dhir

hmmm alright.. like an air brake mechanism?
do you know of any tutorial for this?
also what is the formal name for this mechanism?

Danger

There is no name or tutorial. As far as I know, I'm the only one who's ever done it.

CAUTION! I should have said this before: if you do go rooting around in hospital garbage, use very heavy (leather) gloves and boil anything that you find in soapy water before handling it further. You never know what might be in a syringe, or if it might still have a needle attached. It could have contained blood from an AIDS patient or snake venom.