THIS THREAD IS FROM 2015. I NECROPOSTED TO IT IN POST #67 WITH INFO RELEVANT TO POST #51 AND AFTER.
I want to make something like a lazy susan turntable, but flush.
Imagine a card table top made out of a 1" thick piece of MDF 48"X48", and you cut a 36" diameter hole in the very center. Now I want the inner disk (cutout) to remain exactly where it was, but rotate - I don't want it to be elevated or recessed like a lazy susan bearing would require. I was thinking to use a router to go back through the circular channel with a fluting bit like this :
(pretend it says 1/2" instead of 3/16")
and turn it into a bearing race on both sides, then fill up the channel with 1/2" bearing balls.
I'm pretty sure that idea would suck because the MDF would crumble under heavy load. The load will be pretty heavy, in multiple axes; imagine this lazy susan card table has steel legs anchored to the ground and a pole standing up in the middle of the rotating disk - a fat man standing up on the table grasping the pole should not be able to damage or misalign the disk by throwing his weight against and away from the pole.
So, what material is better than MDF for this? Obviously steel, but I can't cut steel with a router and fluting bit. I'm thinking some sort of polymer or composite. I've looked into lexan but it's super expensive in these dimensions. UHMWPE would have good lubricating qualities for the bearings but I don't think it's rigid enough. I could possible roll my own micarta or low-temp curing epoxy fiberglass but I would rather not spend all the time working on that. any ideas?
I want to make something like a lazy susan turntable, but flush.
Imagine a card table top made out of a 1" thick piece of MDF 48"X48", and you cut a 36" diameter hole in the very center. Now I want the inner disk (cutout) to remain exactly where it was, but rotate - I don't want it to be elevated or recessed like a lazy susan bearing would require. I was thinking to use a router to go back through the circular channel with a fluting bit like this :
and turn it into a bearing race on both sides, then fill up the channel with 1/2" bearing balls.
I'm pretty sure that idea would suck because the MDF would crumble under heavy load. The load will be pretty heavy, in multiple axes; imagine this lazy susan card table has steel legs anchored to the ground and a pole standing up in the middle of the rotating disk - a fat man standing up on the table grasping the pole should not be able to damage or misalign the disk by throwing his weight against and away from the pole.
So, what material is better than MDF for this? Obviously steel, but I can't cut steel with a router and fluting bit. I'm thinking some sort of polymer or composite. I've looked into lexan but it's super expensive in these dimensions. UHMWPE would have good lubricating qualities for the bearings but I don't think it's rigid enough. I could possible roll my own micarta or low-temp curing epoxy fiberglass but I would rather not spend all the time working on that. any ideas?
Last edited: