Lazy Susan bearing for cake stand

[Alex Zeller]

I had a request for a cake stand where the top can be rotated. I was thinking I could use a bearing from a lazy susan but so far all I have found is either square ones or larger round ones. Since it doesn't need to hold much weight it doesn't need to be that large. I'm hoping to hide most of the bearing inside the spindle part of the stand. I have seen some really cheap Chinese ones that are square that are 3" and I did find a round aluminum one that's 4" but it looks like it's designed to just be placed on a table then have a piece of glass set on top of it. I might be able to modify it to work but I thought I would ask first. I wanted it to be screwed together so if someone lifts up on the platter it's not going to come apart.

[Frederick Skelly]

I found this 3" one at Lee Valley. LINK (http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=44042&cat=1,250,43298,43316). I don't know if it will work for what you are trying to do because it is square.

Another idea is to check the McMaster-Carr website. Perhaps they have something.

Best of luck.
Fred

[Mark Greenbaum]

I made a turntable for my hand engraving vise out of this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Shepherd-6-in-Metal-Lazy-Susan-Turntable-with-500-lb-Load-Rating-9548/100180572?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CG%7CBase%7CD25H%7C25-4_BUILDERS_HARDWARE%7CNA%7CPLA%7c71700000035978695 %7c58700004046980559%7c92700037059910574&gclid=CjwKCAjwmJbeBRBCEiwAAY4VVVkhdac3hYZ_rThUGTPG 7k3cPcMEj3IWWaq842jY4w27FZSZ3yXXjRoC098QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CILN0JDai94CFYNgwQodk8cNZQ
https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/7b083cf3-a0c6-42f9-ad61-2d90378ba0f1/svn/shepherd-lazy-susans-9548-64_1000.jpg

[Alex Zeller]

I found this 3" one at Lee Valley. LINK (http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=44042&cat=1,250,43298,43316). I don't know if it will work for what you are trying to do because it is square.

Another idea is to check the McMaster-Carr website. Perhaps they have something.

Best of luck.
Fred

I was hoping for round but square would work. My thinking was round works well with a lathe. The smallest one is 3" square so it'll need a little over 4" for a recess. At least the Lee Valley ones are made in the US. I don't mind Chinese but for the small round aluminum ones I have found so far a number of them say 4" but then say 120mm (or 12cm). 120mm is almost 5". The glass cover for the platter is about 11 1/2" so the platter is only going to be about 12" in diameter. With that in mind I made the spindles (that I have drying) pretty small. They may not be too small to recess a 4" wide bearing to hide it. I'll measure it tonight.

[Robert Edington]

Just cut a cove in both sides. Purchase steel balls from ebay. Woodgears.ca guy made a home made lazy susan that way. He made a race to keep the balls spaced out.
RP

[Grant Wilkinson]

I used this one from Lee Valley with good results.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32743&cat=1,250,43298,43316

It's 4", but round. Also, made in the US.

[Clint Bach]

In the ancient days when I was a potter, we used "cake decorating stands". Basically a base with a steel shaft which had a single ball like a ball bearing uses resting in a dimple on the top and the top rotating platform slipped over the base's shaft. It was aluminum and worked extremely well. You could rotate the platform with one hand and decorate with the other hand. The place where you rotated the top was about an inch in diameter. An elegant design. May or may not work for you.

clint