Bonsai Turntable

[fossil finder]

Apologies for accidently posting a unfinished post. I found an old steel pipe that was a relict from the tinmining days of the late 1800's recently that was dislodged by a flood. The patina was obviously a result of many years of weathering. Yesterday I decided to use it as a pedestal for a bonsai turntable. I cut bluegum discs that I inserted into each end of pipe and used a rotating bearing used to convert bench seats in tinnies (boats) so a seat with backrest can befitted. They cost about $20 from a boat shop. A few large rocks in bottom of pipe emsure a stable workspace. Anyway here it is.


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[Jarad]

..so rather than expanding on your original post you created another one?

Sounds interesting though.

[fossil finder]

I deleted the first post after bumping abutton. I thought.... then ended up editing old one to get it out there in timelime....sorry again for mistake

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[bodhidharma]

Very cool but looks heavy. Is it portable at all Good find, any value for a collector

[Jarad]

it happens to the best of us.

That looks amazing! (I didn't see the pictures before)

[fossil finder]

Without the added rocks about 20kg I reckon. I designed it so I could just xlide it onto grass to work on but also to photograph specimens on. I'm pretty tall and find it easy to work on things up pretty high.

I am also working on another tabletop turntable that is 650mm diameter and 50mm thick table. I like like substancial equipment that I can use for other purposes like photographing rocks etc on.

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[peterb]

Hey fossil finder, i like it a lot. The tables i make are practical and strong but nothing fancy. This has got style, very very nice . Where do you get the gum slabs
Regards
Peterb

[fossil finder]

Cheers PB
It's satisfying to repurpose someting thats been unloved for so long. The bluegum timber, which I'll let grey, is from a tree I had to remove on a building site. I salvaged even the limbs and had it all cut into slabs. After making a ed, 2 media units, work benches, 2 tables, coffee tables a d numerous shelves I'm using he rest to make saikei boxes and several turntables.

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[Dawson]

Very impressive.Love it.I am not a carpenter(read-no talent)so could you tell me about casters.What to ask for in a shop?I would love to make a turntable out of a wooden slab,but what do I do with casters?

[fossil finder]

There are no castors. The turntable is fastened to another piece of timber fitted inside the top of pipe by what is called a 'seat swivel' or 'big hole swivel. Whitworths Marine sell them for $16.95. Some have a lock. Because they are flat there is a little trick to mounting them? I first screwed the swivel to the disk of timber to be later fitted inside the pipe. Because the swivel is flat and only 25mm thick a hole big enough to take the screws you are using needs to be drilled through the bottom disc. This way access is provided so a cordless drilll can be used to fasten together both pieces by rotating swivel until each hole in swivel can be located.

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[Ben Thomas]

Thats really cool. Well done.

[Dawson]

There are no castors. The turntable is fastened to another piece of timber fitted inside the top of pipe by what is called a 'seat swivel' or 'big hole swivel. Whitworths Marine sell them for $16.95. Some have a lock. Because they are flat there is a little trick to mounting them? I first screwed the swivel to the disk of timber to be later fitted inside the pipe. Because the swivel is flat and only 25mm thick a hole big enough to take the screws you are using needs to be drilled through the bottom disc. This way access is provided so a cordless drilll can be used to fasten together both pieces by rotating swivel until each hole in swivel can be located.

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Thanks for the info.