This is something I’ve been bouncing around in my brain lately too, as I plan out my own MPCNC. I’m aiming for something about the same size as @bitingmidge, and while I have the room to not worry about the floor space now, that may change in the future and I want to make sure that I can change things up in the future, if needed. Right now, I’m considering three possibilities; a fixed height on casters, something like Peter H started the thread with but on casters, or a fixed location that can be winched up to the ceiling to create floor space.
Going in reverse order, I’ll start with probably the least likely option, the ceiling mount. While this sounds like an interesting option, and probably would be cool to watch, I don’t really have the headroom for this too work and I have enough floor space to not really make this needed. I’m about 5’ 11" (180 cm) and have about a 7’ 1" (216 cm) ceiling, giving me about 14 inches (36 cm) in which to fit ceiling anchors, pulleys, the enclosure and table, and the machine itself. This is doable, if tight, but it also means I’d still have to build some sort of stand for it to rest on so it doesn’t swing around uncontrollably while running, and if the cables are permanently attached it could make access tricky in some situations. Depending on how strong your roof is, Peter, and how much headroom you have to work with, I could see this being a workable solution for saving valuable floor space since it sounds like you don’t have much to work with. One possible solution could be to build a workbench that matches the dimensions of the router, so that the router could be lowered and secured to the workbench when needed.
Next up is something like in the video, where the mill gets lowered down when not in use. This could potentially be an easier solution, since you don’t have to worry about winches or anything like that, but I’d be worried about the rigidity of a solution like in the video. It seems that since it seems to rotate about and be supported by one axis, with the machine and the stock cantilevered out, plus with the work bench cantilevered out over the machine when it’s folded down. If you used some beefy bearings and maybe some adjustable supports to keep the cantilevered ends from collapsing during use. My preferred solution for something like this would be to keep it simple, and make a table to mount the MPCNC with a removable work surface above it. This way you still have a fully supported work surface without a complicated mechanism, and you could potentially put the work surface on while the router runs underneath. If I decide that I want to be able to have a workspace where the router is I’d go this route personally; no complicated mechanics, easy to build and still nice and sturdy.
But I think I’m gonna stick with a fixed height since my goal is to get the MPCNC to basically be a production machine and I want it to be nice and accessible, and I already have 64 square feet of work bench space across four work benches and a hundred or so square feet of unused floor space, so I don’t really need to worry about that. I am, however, going to get some heavy duty locking casters, so that if I decide later on to move the machine around, or if I move it to make room for a car during the winter (the workshop is in a still usable garage) it can be done easily.