Comments on: Levers to Drive a Manual Wheelchair http://www.gearability.com/2007/02/11/levers-to-drive-a-manual-wheelchair/ Life with limitations and the gear that makes things work Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:25:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Marty http://www.gearability.com/2007/02/11/levers-to-drive-a-manual-wheelchair/comment-page-1/#comment-1088 Marty Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:08:00 +0000 http://www.gearability.com/2007/02/11/levers-to-drive-a-manual-wheelchair/#comment-1088 Hi, pH -- there are other lever-driven wheelchairs of varying degrees of sophistication, which you can probably find by Googling the subject. I'm with you, though, and I'd be tempted to try making the levers myself. If you have the mechanical aptitude, or a friend or relative who does, it might be worth picking up a second-hand wheelchair and seeing what you can do. The technology really shouldn't be that complicated, especially if you decide not to gear it. Advantages, other the obvious one (price) would be that you could tailor it to exactly what you need -- you don't need to do product development to cover a range of users, or cover yourself for thousands of dollars in liability insurance. Love the "mijit" reference. I'm guessing you're a <a href="http://www.muji.net/eng/" rel="nofollow">Muji</a> fan? (OK, that's really strange. There is a <em>Muji fan</em> on the home page today. Is the cosmos trying to tell us something?) Please keep us posted if you decide to take the DIY route. For the life of me, I can't figure out why the Wijit costs $4500 -- but that's my reaction to the cost of most medical equipment. Hi, pH — there are other lever-driven wheelchairs of varying degrees of sophistication, which you can probably find by Googling the subject.

I’m with you, though, and I’d be tempted to try making the levers myself. If you have the mechanical aptitude, or a friend or relative who does, it might be worth picking up a second-hand wheelchair and seeing what you can do. The technology really shouldn’t be that complicated, especially if you decide not to gear it.

Advantages, other the obvious one (price) would be that you could tailor it to exactly what you need — you don’t need to do product development to cover a range of users, or cover yourself for thousands of dollars in liability insurance.

Love the “mijit” reference. I’m guessing you’re a Muji fan?

(OK, that’s really strange. There is a Muji fan on the home page today. Is the cosmos trying to tell us something?)

Please keep us posted if you decide to take the DIY route. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the Wijit costs $4500 — but that’s my reaction to the cost of most medical equipment.

]]> By: pH http://www.gearability.com/2007/02/11/levers-to-drive-a-manual-wheelchair/comment-page-1/#comment-1083 pH Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:23:04 +0000 http://www.gearability.com/2007/02/11/levers-to-drive-a-manual-wheelchair/#comment-1083 There's a dealer about 200 mi from here. I'd love to see this wijit in action too. But i may have to figure how to build it myself at $4500. Is there anything else like this? A generic brand, "mijit" perhaps. There’s a dealer about 200 mi from here. I’d love to see this wijit in action too. But i may have to figure how to build it myself at $4500. Is there anything else like this? A generic brand, “mijit” perhaps.

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