I need a swivel or bearing for a lazy susan style turntable.

I can't find anything to solve my problem because I obviously don't know how to explain my problem. I want the be able to spin by hand a heavy 24" round turntable on top of my workbench using centrifugal force. Like the wheel on a car but horizontal.

I was going to make it out of 4 inches of MDF but I can't find a bearing or swivel or anything that will allow this top spin horizontally. Lazy susans are strong and stable but don't allow a friction free spin.

I'm sure what I need is out there but I have no idea what it is, or what it's called.

There are all sorts of bearing to spin stuff vertically, isn't there one I can attach to this table that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars.

Reply to
BlairR
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snipped-for-privacy@address.invalid wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Larry Jaques suggested that this was very similar to a potter's kick wheel. Try a pottery (ceramics) supply house.

In a former life, a long time ago, I could slam 25+ lbs of stoneware clay on a wheel head, and throw very large vessels, which were almost impossible to fire successfully. The hardware held up, though.

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folks were the best in my area.

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Reply to
Wilson Lamb

I checked Lee Valley. Load capacity 100 lbs. on the largest Lazy Susan.

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use roller bearings. Since I was going to suggest this was a roller bearing application anyway it seems like a good fit... If these are high quality they should be low friction. Maybe they would work...

Force is acting downward when stopped and mostly horizontal when rotating.

Reply to
WillR

That was _1000 lbs._ capacity on the largest -- sorry! Please explain why this would not work. Then maybe people will understand the problem better.

Reply to
WillR

If I understand your problem correctly, you're concerned that a lazy susan bearing won't take side thrust and may not stand up to continuous high-speed use.

How about splitting the problem into two parts -- use 3 or 4 skateboard bearings mounted around the edge of the turntable to carry the weight, use another 1 or 2 on the axle to take the side thrust.

Reply to
GH

WillR wrote: ...

The gravity load doesn't behave any different whether it's spinning or not...

To OP, what you're application calls for is a "thrust bearing". Lazy susans or rotating TV, etc., stands are commercially available for 100+ lbs. The large under-counter one Dad and I built for Mom some 30 years ago now, used the thrust bearings from a small disc--3/4" shaft available from a good farm implement supply. What their actual load rating is I'm not sure, but it would easily hold 250-300 lb, I'm sure.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth
1000 pounds and ball bearings.
Reply to
CW

On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 23:10:28 -0700, the inscrutable snipped-for-privacy@address.invalid spake:

Give us more info. What are you making? Will any forces be at work, such as a cutting tool or shaping forces from the side? What weight will be on the table? How much external force will be applied?

Hmm, lazy susans don't don't much force to spin, even with 200# on 'em.

For a close-to-friction-free unit, mount a cut-off truck axle (with bearing and wheel) to a metal frame and put an MDF (or real wood) top on it.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

When you find one, let me know. I need a friction-free bearing for my perpetual motion machine :-).

But seriously folks, it's hard to find a lower friction coeffecient than a lubricated ball bearing.

I just bought a lazy susan that's a large circle with said bearings and it's rated for 1000 pounds. Readily available at Ace hardwares, or cheaper online if you have other stuff to share the shipping cost.

Reply to
lgb

Think air. Use a regular bearing for centre-ing and an air cushion to elevate. Perfboard with some routed out channels and a regulator. Over a large enough area, you'll be able to move tonnage with absolutely no effort and the regular ball bearing will keep things in place.

10's of thousands of pounds, I tell ya. Four 12" diameter pucks moved a buddy's printing press like it was floating on air...waitasec..it darn well WAS floating on air. You know how they stopped it from moving?

Yup... turned off the air.

btw...the compressor they were using was a 3 HP, 20-30 gallon tank. it wasn't working that hard. You only need a little air to get lift...more air does nothing.

Did I help ya? Huh? Huh?

Reply to
Robatoy

Kicking a wheel on top of a 36" work bench could be tough. I'm just not that limber any more.:) I need something that can rest on the bench, not the floor.

Reply to
BlairR

Lazy susans are not designed for horizontal forces and LV has suggested against it. They are designed to turn, not spin. I need something like a utility trailer wheel support only horizontal.

Reply to
BlairR

Very little side force. The table itself will be the heavy part because I want to use the weight to keep it spinning.

I tried to go this route. Auto wreckers won't do it and they want a minimum of $250 for the hub off anything. I can buy an entire utility trailer kit for less. But I was hoping to find a nice floor flange (like on single pedestal table) and a center bearing that might work.

Reply to
BlairR

Since the lazy Susan has a race of ball bearings it will handle side forces. I checked that. Besides. after doing a quick mental design and realizing it would be a lazy Susan anyway... I checked Lee Valley and the design they stock is exactly what I would have built anyway -- maybe with larger bearings -- but you are not moving that much weight...

What the heck -- other than the air bearing surface suggested by Robatoy, nothing obvious now comes to mind. And BTW -- I use an air baring surface on the side of my table saw. It is quite effective for heavy sheets of MDF -- saves having to get help to saw large sheets..

Have fun.

Reply to
WillR

Well I do have the 12" Lee Valley lazy susan so I might as well try it. Weight is about 100 pounds max. I'm thinking the wheel axle off a utility trailer would be a better way to go. But I have to find one first.

Reply to
BlairR

You could just get some car (or truck) bearings from any auto parts store. They are cone bearings that support the spin in both directions. A few dollars is all they cost. Still, I think the lazy susan bearings would work very well. If your disc is centered and reasonably balanced, there will be no horizontal forces worth worrying about. Since the disc is symmetrical, the centrifugal forces cancel out and all you have left is gravity. Believe it or not, it's true.

Reply to
Hax Planks

Reply to
Wilson Lamb

Assuming it's balanced and he doesn't apply any side force.

Reply to
J. Clarke

snipped-for-privacy@address.invalid wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was under the impression you were looking for bearings that could handle both a heavy vertical load, as well as side loading. I understood that the turntable would likely be motor-driven in some manner. My thought was that the bearings used for a potter's kick wheel would be suitable, not that you actually use that configuration.

I wish you well with your quest.

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

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