Picnic Tables - How to Make a straightforward Lazy Susan For Your Picnic Table

How big is your picnic table? Can you seat 16 people? The new beloved octagonal and hexagonal picnic tables these days can be very large. This is marvelous because you can seat so many of your family and friends. And big is beautiful!

There is one small drawback any way to large tables and that is you can't reach the food or drinks in the centre or the other side of the table without having to stand up and stretch over all things else.

Picnic Table

The solution: A Lazy Susan! The Chinese use them extensively in their banquet rooms where the tables are also large. It is a simple retort to a frustrating challenge.

Picnic Tables - How to Make a straightforward Lazy Susan For Your Picnic Table

They can be purchased but it may not match up with the table that you have, especially if you have made the table yourself. If you have made yourself a large octagonal picnic table with octagonal segments in the table top, it would be great to have a matching Lazy Susan.

The following is a plan to match an octagonal picnic table with a table top measuring around 6'8" over to the parallel sides.

Materials required for a large octagonal picnic table

Lumber

1/2" Plywood 50"*50" quadrate favorable for covering use.

6*1 1/2 32' dry pressure treated pine

2"*4" 13' 2*4" dry treated pine

Nails / Screws

3" gal nails 32

1 1/2" screws 128

Turntable swivel A 12" to 14"

Tools Required

1) A Power compound miter saw.

2) A circular saw

3) A Drill and hole saw to make the hole for the umbrella.

4) Hammer.

5) Tape measure. Small hand plane. Adjustable square. Pencil.

6) Battery Drill to screw all the screws in.

Step by step construction

Step 1

Cut the 2*4 accurately in half with the circular saw. This now gives you 2 pieces 2"*2".If you have an electric plane, plane the saw cut. Now cut the 8 pieces to 19" with 45 degree angles. This is the covering frame.

Make sure that the cut side is down so that the saw cutting is not visible.

Step 2

Arrange the pieces on a flat covering in an octagon shape and nail them together.

Step 3

Place the frame onto the plywood board and accurately part angle to angle until you get the frame perfectly "square". When you have it exactly right draw a pencil line right around the inside of the frame onto the plywood. (Note. If there are any gaps in the covering corners of your frame you may need to do some minuscule adjustments because this is what you are going to see.)

Step 4

Shift the plywood onto a bench and cut accurately along the line with the circular saw. Tidy up with the hand plane. You now have a perfect octagon to fit exactly inside the 2*2 frame. Place it inside the frame on a flat covering and rule lines between the opposite corners onto the plywood

Step 5

Now part each board, cut and fit the covering row of 6*1 1/2. Plane the cut edge to give it a bevel. Don't nail anything. When the covering row is perfect start on the next row and then the next until all the centre is filled. You will need to be strict with cuts to make sure it all fits with no gaps.

Step 6

Nail 2 nails straight through each section of frame into the covering row of 6*1 1/2. Now turn the Lazy Susan over. Draw lines between the corners. Take a piece of 6*1 1/2 to use as a guide and draw where the boards would be on the other side. Do each board in turn because this gives you a guide as to where to put the screws.

When you know where all the screws go, screw the plywood tightly to the Lazy Susan top. In this way there are no nails or screws showing on the Lazy Susan top.

Step 7

Turn it over so that it is right way up. You should clearly see where the centre of the umbrella hole goes. Use the hole saw to make the umbrella hole.

Step 8

Centre the turntable swivel accurately and screw into place.

You now have a Lazy Susan to converyance your food and drinks effortlessly around your large octagonal table.

Picnic Tables - How to Make a straightforward Lazy Susan For Your Picnic Table

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