Hey there, Lazy Susie

Have you ever tried to buy bearings for a lazy Susan? Me neither… I searched the web for a local supplier, but the closest I got was a supplier who has pretty pictures of lazy Susan bearings on its website – but only sells the complete item.Which is bad news for all you budding not-so-lazy Susanites out there. However, help is at hand… at your local garage, in fact (of your local automotive scrap dealer). Here’s what you do… visit your nearest garage that has a workshop, smile nicely at the blokes, and ask if they have any shot bearings hanging around. Try for wheel bearings or big-end bearings (in this case, I used two wheel bearings – inner and outer) lug them home and wash them thoroughly in turpentine to get rid of the grease.

DIFFICULTY: Reasonably skilled/Advanced
ESTIMATED TIME: 12-15 hours (spread over a weekend or two).
COST: +/- R100 (you can pick up the old wheel bearings from your local garage workshop – they usually toss them out as scrap.

MATERIALS:

• Since this lazy Susan has a diameter of 340mm, I needed:22 x 144 x 1 050mm oak
• biscuits
• wood glue
• lag bolt
• 40mm diameter fender washer
• four 15mm screws
• one 30mm washer
• five feet
• washers to fit within and screws
• finish of your choice – I chose a gloss polyurethane sealer.

Step 1:

The diameter of the lazy Susan you make will determine the length of the timbers you use. So, measure off two and save material where you can – you will notice the outer piece need not be as long as the centre piece.

The diameter of the lazy Susan:

Step 2:

Cut to lengths. The three pieces.

The three pieces:

The base will be cut from the end of the centre piece and use a biscuit cutter to make the biscuit grooves.

Use a biscuit cutter to make the biscuit grooves:

Step 3:

Liberally coat the biscuits and surfaces with glue.

Don’t be like me – before applying glue, run masking tape along the surfaces to avoid marring the surface.

Run masking tape along the surfaces to avoid marring the surface:

Clamp the pieces together and also apply lateral clamps to keep the timbers aligned and dead straight during the gluing process.

Clamp the pieces together and also apply lateral clamps:

Step 4:

Mark the centre point for the base and drill a shallow hole for the tool’s pivot.

Mark the centre point and drill a shallow hole:

The tool is fitted with a straight cutting bit, so you use it exactly as you would a router… many passes, incrementally increasing the depth of the cut by about 2mm with each pass.

This tool is fitted wih a straight cutting bit:

Step 5:

Finish off with the cutter just about 0,5mm short of the lower surface of the wood and then use a craft knife to cut the base free.

Use a craft knife to cut the base free:

Step 6:

Follow the same procedure with the rotating surface. Here I used a rule to mark the diagonals and so the centre point of the three pieces.

Follow the same procedure with the rotating surface:

Next is the same procedure, drill a shallow centre point – note: you are working on the underside of the rotating top, so that we leave the top in pristine condition.

Follow the same procedure…:

Same as the first… follow the same procedure with the top as you did with the base.

Second verse, same as the first…:

I then decided to round off the edge, which I did with a router.

I decided to round off the edge:

Step 7:

The basic components for the top bearing: the bearing itself (outer and inner race) and the fender washer. The latter’s function is to be a hard surface on which the bearing can… bear; if mounted flat against the oak, even though the wood is hard, in time the rim of the bearing would compress the wood and jam; clever, ain’t I. Bear in mind (pardon the pun) that the success of the whole project turns (again, pardon) on how well the bearings are set up.

The basic components for the top bearing:

Step 8:

Do a dry run to ensure that the bearing will sit comfortably on the washer.

A dry run to ensure that the bearings will sit comfortably on the washer:

Mark off the inner diameter of the bearing – this is so that the four attachment screws are within the bearing’s diameter.

Mark off the inner diameter of the bearing:

Now, drill the four holes for the screws and attach the washer to the underside of the base of the top. The four screws also help keep the wood fibres together when the lag bolt is turned into the wood.

Attach the washer to the underside of the base of the top:

Step 9:

Then I made a shallow 2mm recess in the top surface of the base to keep the bearing centred.

I chose the closest size I have of a hole saw and cut the rim.

Then I used the tool as a milling machine to remove the centre, the outer race of the bearing sitting in the recess.

Then I used the tool as a milling machine to remove the centre:

I then made a second recess, slightly smaller, to accommodate the inner race and allow it to rotate freely, and repeated the milling – this time to a depth of about 4mm (allowing 2mm for the inner race to rotate freely).

I then made a second recess, slightly smaller:

Step 10:

Now for the lower bearing… it was 40mm in diameter by 15mm deep. So a 40mm Forstner bit worked like a charm.

A 40mm Forstner bit worked like a charm:

I did not want to recess it any further as I wanted to keep a few millimetres of wood in the centre, so that the two bearings would be able to bear on the wood and remain stable. And, as I was adding five feet so that the lag bolt could rotate freely without scratching the table top, instead of trying to measure off angles and go mad, I simply measured the circumference, and divided by five – to give the spacing for the feet.

Here’s the lower washer in its recess:

Step 11:

I attached the feet using washers that fit within the feet, which makes for a stronger ‘fix’.

Adding the feet:

Then I added the lag bolt, carefully measuring the length and ensuring that when sufficiently tight, it would not protrude through the upper surface of the rotating top – ruining it and making me swear mightily. Beware of tightening the bolt too much as that will make it more difficult for the top to rotate. Incidentally, the ‘lip’ within the two recesses within the base is not under any strain as it is sandwiched between the two bearings.

Then I added the lag bolt:

The finished article. I was quite chuffed with it.

Buy your swivel bearing at the link below:

Steel – Zinc Plated Swivel / Lazy Susan Bearing 305mm (54880)