Turn the tables on finishing

I needed a large turntable for applying finish to furniture projects, so I made one using inexpensive, commonly available materials.

Start by cutting the turntable top and base from scrap pieces of ³⁄₄ " plywood. Cut the turntable round using a trammel base and router. Adjust the trammel to a smaller radius to rout matching circular grooves on the mating surfaces.

Next comes the fun part. For the "ball bearings," I used three golf balls. They roll smooth enough and the dimples provide just enough resistance to keep the table from spinning freely. In the groove, sandwich the balls between the base and table. Measure the gap between the base and table. Add spacers and washers at the center to fill in the gap.

Enlarge the centerpoints in the top and bottom to accept a bolt and assemble as shown with the lock nut tightened just enough to hold everything in place but still allowing the table to turn.
—Brian Bustin, Camano Island, Wash.