Complete novice guidance needed

Hi All
I’m a complete novice with electronics, however I thought I could make a projector lift to fit in a ceiling. This design in my head was simple and based on a scissor lift lab stand.
Having read a bit about it I know I need
A A stepper motor
B some kind of electronics driver such as Arduino.

Specifically I had assumed I could use a stepper with a corresponding all thread which could be used in place of the one provided with the lab stand. This however doesn’t seem to be as straightforward as I had first thought.

I’ve been looking for a tutorial but to no avail, most are short on detail for a novice like myself.

That’s the overview and any information would be most welcome.

A stepper motor needs electronics to drive it.

I think you would be better off using a DC motor with a gearbox. That only needs power switching in the appropriate direction (polarity) to make the motor run each way.
Look on ebay for "DC geared motor" for examples - eg. possibly something like this?
**broken link removed**


There are a few old threads on here relating to such as using car electric window motors or basic DC motors to control doors etc., the info in those would probably be useful to you.

This is an example circuit from one; just replace the contacts of the "day/night relay" with your up/down control switch; you can use a suitably rated 12V power unit in place of a battery:

Thank you for the reply, that’s really helpful. I should be able get the nuts and bolts done with your suggestion.
Much appreciated