Wheel of fortune hardware

[Robert Cougham]

I'm building a simple wheel of fourtune.
Vertically oriented. Think a lolipop on a stick.
The wheel is a 9" radius, 1" baltic birch plywood.
The mast is a 2x2 cedar picket. (I said it was simple).

Anyway, I really don't know what type of hardware to use for the axle.
I'd be willing to spend anywhere from 0 to 15 bucks for the hardware.

Any Idea's?

[Keith Westfall]

Put a big bolt through it and grease it up!

[james glenn]

Funny this came up....I actually built one of these about two years ago.
Mine was 24" radius of 1/2" birch ply, folded down for transport and works great. Made for a retirement home.

I tried all kinds of things, from roll bearings to bicycle wheel bearings. After all of that, we ended up
just using a 1/2"bolt and a little white grease. The hole hasn't warn out yet and spins freely. They play
the game about once every month.

[Robert Cougham]

Thanks guys. I should clarify that this is my Second wheel of fortune for this customer. (my sister the artist).
I built the first one a few years ago, pretty much exactly as you guys did... I thought it was great! The customer expects something a little better in a free wheel of fortune....

I thought of a lazy susan fitting, but am not sure how well it would work on it's side.
I've also heard of, but never used a 'pillow block bearing'.

Cheers.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Why not use a 20" bicycle wheel, with 1/4" baltic birch face attached to rim with spacers. Use piece of old bed rail (free at dumpsters, and on CL in FREE section) to support it.