DIY Patio Lazy Susan

Ever since last summer, I have been filled with desire for a lazy susan that was made to go around my patio umbrella. I know I must have seen one at some point, but all my efforts to find one have been fruitless. Perhaps I just dreamed such a magical item.

A while ago, I had pinned this tutorial about making one's own lazy susan. This one lacked a hole in the center for the umbrella pole, so I mentally filed it away. Then, a few weeks ago, I remembered the tutorial and thought to myself, "Self, you can totally modify that thing to make it work for you!" After congratulating myself on a great idea, I got started collecting my parts. I only needed two things, so it didn't take long: a cheap lazy susan and an 18" round wooden tabletop (which I got at Lowe's). Both items together cost about $18.

Here's the pre-made lazy susan I found at Wal-Mart. This one was 2 tiered which I didn't need but it was the cheapest one I could find. I had originally planned to remove the rotating part and attach it to my wooden top, but after further inspection, I realized this wouldn't work and that I would have to cut a hole through the plastic. I had no idea if this would even work. I was fully prepared to have the plastic crack right in two. I measured the umbrella pole to determine what size hole I needed. It was 1 1/2" in diameter. I happened to have a 2 1/4" hole saw already so I decided that would work just fine and got to drilling.

Fortunately, it cut through like butter and didn't even threaten to crack.

One note about the lazy susan: make sure it has a ring for the moving portion. Lots of the ones I saw had a solid circle attached at the center, which will get in the way when you try to cut the hole.

After doing a little victory dance in the driveway, I cut the same size hole in the wooden top, after measuring to find the center. This took a bit more drilling effort since it was so much thicker. To avoid splintering when the bit comes through, keep an eye on the bottom side. When the pilot bit starts to poke through, flip the piece over and finish cutting the hole from the bottom.

After the floor staining color trial, I have quite a selection of stain colors. I started out with ebony, but then decided it needed something to warm it up a bit. I brushed on a coat of jacobean immediately. In the photo above, the left side is ebony/jacobean and right right side is ebony only. After that dried, I applied 3 coats of satin polyurethane to the top and sides. I also applied 2 coats to the bottom, which I didn't stain but wanted to protect in case it comes in contact with water.

After all that was nice and dry, it was time the glue to lazy susan to the wood top. I used a two-part epoxy that I applied to the rim of the lazy susan. I forgot to take a picture of this step because the glue sets in 5 minutes and I was panicking just a little bit. The main thing here is to make sure both of the holes you cut line up perfectly.

I'm quite happy with the results. It matches the color of the table really well, which is what I was going for. And that rotating action is smoooooth...

Now who wants to come over for a cook out so I can take it for a spin? Get it? Har har har...