[Padgett]

Personally think a better investment would be a power actuator for the existing TM line. A hydraulic cylinder that actuates a 90 degree motion is not hard, I designed one for 1200 ton aluminum die casting machines when I worked for GM. Be easied to just use a singe cylinder at each end but need to get the actuator out of the way of the slide in front.

Am getting just a glimmer of a way to do it. Having a single cyl at each end eliminates the synchronization issue and reduces cost.

As usual I just realized that the same linkage could terminate at a lever at the side. Push down (almost anyone can push down) and it opens. Power assist an option, possibly driven by a power drill, how does that sound ? (Years ago I designed a similar rig to disassemble the armature wires in an alternator, was tricky because in a used alternator the wire often spun on the stud which is A Bad. So a "fork" to hold in place.