wrote in message
...

how about a cable over a pulley and a counterweight?

That's what I used on my old Craftsman. I had an iron plate that was just
the right weight, so I used that -- here are a couple of photos:

http://home.earthlink.net/~kvaughn65...ter_weight.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~kvaughn65...er_balance.jpg
--
Ken Vaughn
Visit My Workshop: http://home.earthlink.net/~kvaughn65/