Parallock

 

This is well-made hardware for folding tables. Consisting of a pair of handed brackets, it is used to translate a table top up 6" and over 13 3/4". Installation is straightforward (basic instructions included), requiring only that the brackets are screwed to the inside of the carcass, and then coupled with a wooden follower bar for lateral stability. The table must have clearance of 16" between skirts, with a skirt depth of 4 3/4".

Sturdily made from 1/8" chromated steel stock. Supplied with all mounting hardware, and optional counterbalance springs (maximum 12 lb door) for horizontal application (a door opening to the side), or vertical applications (a door opening upwards or downwards). To install this hardware, it looks like you will need a drill with the correlating predrill bits for the shank, bore and head. I think you would also need a screwdriver. 

Similar to other hardware such as the "Pop Up Table Mechanism" available on the Lee Valley website. This can be used for not just folding tables, but also basement or attic doors, different kinds of furniture, kitchen cabinets and chests. I don't think I have seen this type of hardware before, but the diagrams do a good job illustrating how it would work. The price is quite expensive, at $129 for a pair, and I wonder what other competitors' hardware for this application would be. I think that it makes sense for a pop-up table application, but that there are other types of hardware that would work just as well for cabinet applications. Because there are two support arms, I think that it would do okay with compression, but if you were using it as a table and putting a large part of your body weight on it, I don't know how long it would stand up over time, especially if it is screwed into a material such as veneered chipboard.