Turntable

esteve59

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I am looking for recommendations for a sturdy turntable under $50.00....
Anyone have a favorite...?
 

greerhw

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Build you own for 15 bucks of less.

keep it green,
Harry
 

crhabq

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I also endorse the build your own idea. Get a large base enough base to hold your tools, wire, bottle o' beer, and other bonsai related stuff. Two hunks of plywood, one lazy susan turntable assemblage, one side beam connector (located in the beam support area of the big box stores) and a wing nut. Drill a hole in the top table that will enable you to screw in the base of the lazy susan part. A gate carriage handle for carrying purposes is also good.
 
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greerhw

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My is similar to what crhahq suggested. Two pieces of 1/2 or 5/8 plywood, depending on the size of your trees, mines about 22" in dia. and 5/8, because I used to have larger trees. My lazy susan came from Home Depot. You will need a jig saw to cut the plywood, you will need to drill a round hole in the bottom to get to the screws to screw the lazy susan to the top. Cut the top round, cut the bottom so you have a handle to carry it with, my top is covered with some rubber pond liner I had left over, paint if you want, I didn't. Below is a crude drawing to Illustrate what I'm describing. I already had the plywood and I think the lazy susan was about ten bucks. Took longer to go get the lazy susan than it did to build the turn table...

keep it green,
Harry

Oh yeah, Home Depot already has some round pieces of particle board if you don't want to mess with cutting the plywood, but you have to add a handle.
 

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flor1

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I pretty much did what every one else here has said. The one thing that I did was got some plastic crates that soda comes in to raise and lower it to any height that I want. The Coke ones work great nest into each other for a stable work platform.
 

esteve59

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Thanks for the tips,I will check it out..........
What is a ..
" one side beam connector (located in the beam support area of the big box stores)"
update,,,,,,,,,
I found this at Dallas Bonsai for $23....not bad for a medium size..
It is 12" in diameter, made in Japan of some kind of plastic material, and it has glass marbles for rollers so it won't rust.
 

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rockm

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"Two pieces of 1/2 or 5/8 plywood, depending on the size of your trees, mines about 22" in dia. and 5/8, because I used to have larger trees. My lazy susan came from Home Depot."

I did the exact same thing--almost. I made turntables for my monkey pole display stands since a few of my trees weigh over 75 lbs. Turning them every week to get even sun exposure can be a pain--literally for me and possibly the tree.

I was pretty lazy building the things though :D. Mine should be called "lazyRockms." I simply screwed two flat boards across the turntable hardware--I used treated deck slats to slow deterioration. The big turntable hardware-I think the largest Home Depot had was about 18 inches across, can support 500 lbs (and can make a turntable 24" or more across. Since the they're exposed to weather 24/7/52, I have to remake them every five years or so. Turntable hardware is less than $8 each. Boards are about $3...
 

crhabq

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The side beam connector and the wing nut are so that you can make a break on the turntable to stop it from turning while you are woking on the tree. I gave the location of the item because when I went to look for it store employees knew it was in the store but did not know where it was located.
 

head_cutter

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Hi, I did about the same thing but for mine used the base of an old metal office chair which was also adjustable. 3 legs so it was never rocking, rigged my own 'lock' to stop it from turning. Used 3/4" plywood for the table. Total cost was around $5, lasted for years.

Bob
 

greerhw

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We went the the BonsaiSmiths in Dallas and Howard had made several work tables using old barber chair bases, the were adjustable and they rotated, really nice to work on.

keep it green,
Harry
 

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