Lazy Susan

This is probably one of the easiest projects ever and also one of the most useful.

Before I go on any further I must point out the aluminium Lazy Susan bearings I found, they are so much better than the plastic ones and because they have little suction caps on both sides they don't need to be permanently attached (you still can if you want to). Also they look great, last longer and spin better.

As mentioned it is super simple to make and you can get away with using just a few tools. I decided to give this one a bit of flair by adding handles which also makes it useful for carrying around.

Makes a great Christmas gift!

Like always I like to do things the hard way so here I am milling my own timber. I decided to make this Lazy Susan quite large with a diameter of 500mm but you can make it any size you like.

I cut my board lengths to 550mm to be safe and kept them reasonably thick at 25mm. The timber I used here is spotted gum which is an Australian Hardwood and will probably last forever : )

Having cut enough boards to get the desired width glue them together. I mostly use Titebond III as it is both strong and water resistant but any wood glue will do.

For this step I used my circle cutting jig and my band saw however a jigsaw or router will work just as well. I really should do an instructable on the jig one day as it really useful!

Simply mark the center, draw a circle and cut it out.

Quickly how the jig works - I drill a shallow 1/4 inch hole at the center of the circle. I then turn the board over and place it on a sled which has a bunch of holes radiating from the center. So for this cut I put a piece of dowel in the hole 25cm from the blade then attached my board and spun it around on the band saw to make the cut.

There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube so check it out, super easy to make.

Sand as best you can, for this project I sand up to 400g. For the edges I used a very small round over bit and then just cleaned it up with a little hand sanding.

I generally like darker woods so I gave it a Jacobean stain. Then I applied many coast of matte polyurethane for durability.

I made my own wipe on poly by diluting it with equal parts mineral spirits which works quite well.

I found the best way to attach the handles is to measure with a rule exactly where they should go then use masking tape to mark the edges of the handles. I then place a small amount of plasticine where the handles sit on the wood and finally press the handle into the plasticine to mark exactly where the the holes should go. After that I drill away with confidence and attach the handles : )

As mentioned in the introduction just drop the top onto the bearing and you done!