Reclaim wood "Pass me the salt!" turning tray.

Big round table in your house?..... salt, gravy and sauce have to go from one hand to the next until it reaches you?.... Not anymore..... If you are interested read the instructable and you will find a elegant and good looking solution for this dinner time problem.

Step 1 Tools, materials and knowledge you'll need

Let us make this boring step quick.... ok?
- Drill and a 5/16" drill bit
- Jigsaw or hand saw
- Bearing balls 5/16" (about 12), marbels will also work fine but they are not as uniformly sized
- 5mm thick board
- One bolt, 2 washers, 1 nut, size doesn't really matter ...... for our purposes
- A round piece of reclaim wood ( you know that tree your neighbour just cut down? )
- Some other stuff you will find useful and around your workplace..... you'll figure it out, right now this are the "must have" things to make this GREAT instructable posible...


oh yeah!... the knowledge part

You will need common sense to avoid accidents and basic carpentry skills.

WORK SAFE!!

Comments

[thedestroyer]

how do you address the issue of the "log slice" splitting? my husband cut a log into slices like that and the thinner ones (less that 2 1/2 inches) split and broke up...

[Tazo]

If the wood has not been treated or if it has been recently cut, it will expand and contract while moisture goes in and out of it, the best thing you can do is to use a log that has been sitting around for a long time and has reached a moisture balance, so when you cut it you will know it will not expand any more unless of course you take it to a different climate lets say a place with high humidity. The slice I used had been on the back yard for at least a year... someones backyard...ehemmm...

[Celt]

This is great!!!  I have an odd shaped table, and I wanted the lazy suzan in the middle to match it in color and shape.  I was looking for a ball-bearing mechanizm to buy off of the internet, but why?  I now know how to make my own! And I know what to do with all those marbles I saved when I was a kid.  Thanks a lot, I'll put up an ible when I'm done, (and give Tazo the credit of course) on my vacation coming up.  Here is a pic of my table.

[Yerboogieman]

Simple, nice, like a homemade lazy Susan.

[offroadgreg]

awesome project! what species of tree was that slice cut from? very nice grain and color! thanks for posting this instructable! I've got tons of bearing balls and I'll definitely be trying this..

[Tazo]

I am 90% sure that the wood comes from a Mezquite tree. (Prosopis glandulosa)

[Danielfish]

It's usually called a Lazy Susan, I think. :P Maybe it should be a little bigger, then you can put small foods and sides on it too, sop they don't have to be passed around too, and it will also decrease the distance you'd have to reach to get the salt from the middle. Still, it's a nice instructable! Would a round groove for the ball bearings be any better, or would it make no difference? I suppose you'd need more bearings...

[Tazo]

I'll change the name I just didn't know how was it called (I'm not a native english speaker) . Anyway the size was pretty much determined by the tree trunk from which the slice came. but you are right it would be better if it was bigger. I do not think a groove could make a difference in this case, and actually I've already noticed that the steel balls are already making the groove on the wood just with the weight of the tray. Thak you for your comments. I will edit the instructable to add one more step shortly and also will change the name to "rotating tray" since it seems more appropiate

[jdege]

"Lazy Susan" has been declared to be insufficiently sensitive to the feelings of the oppressed classes. The approved term is "rotating tray". What sort of finish did you use on this?

[Tazo]

I did not use any kind of finish. It is just the wood. I'll see how that works when it gets wet.