Make a Lazy Susan for Your Cabinet or Cupboard
If you don’t like the term “lazy susan,” how about installing a lazy steve, or even a lazy dave? I’ve had both of these lazy household items. Maybe a lazy daisy is more your cup of tea. Whatever gender or name you choose to give this wonderful cabinet accessory, adding a lazy susan is a great way to create more space within a cupboard or cabinet. You’ll be able to reach spices, canned goods, tools, craft items, and much more. Put a lazy susan wherever you need to make a cabinet or cupboard more efficient and useful.
It’s not necessary to buy a lazy susan at an expensive cabinet shop. A ready-made lazy susan can be quite expensive, depending on the quality and design. Consider building a lazy susan for a fraction of the cost of a store-bought lazy susan. You don’t have to be a carpenter or woodworker to build a lazy susan for a cabinet or cupboard. Anyone who can use an electric drill can make a lazy susan for their cabinet or cupboard by using the following easy instructions.
Materials Required to Make a Lazy Susan
You can buy hardware for a lazy susan at most larger home improvement and hardware stores. The required hardware to build a lazy susan that fits a standard twenty-four inch cabinet is a four-inch bearing assembly made especially for a lazy susan. You’ll also need sheet-metal screws to install the bearing assembly, 6d finishing nails, wood screws, wood glue, flexible counter top edging to finish the edges of the shelves and create a lip, and you’ll need counter top adhesive to attach the counter top edging.
The shelves of the lazy susan should be made from 3/4 inch thick plywood. If you don’t have a saber saw to make the shelves, ask your local lumber yard to cut two perfect circles from a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood that are twenty-two inches across. You will also need three separate pieces of plywood to support the top shelf of the lazy susan. The three pieces of plywood will form a cross. One piece of plywood should be twenty-two inches long, and the other two need to be half that length minus 3/8 of one inch for each piece. Chose the height of the plywood supports according to the height of your cabinet or cupboard.
Lastly, you will need an electric drill with appropriate size bits for drilling pilot holes and attaching screws, and you will need a pencil. You might also want to consider stain or paint for the plywood pieces of the lazy susan if you want a more finished look.
Assembly Instructions
The following instructions are for a cabinet or cupboard that isn’t completely finished. The front of the cabinet or cupboard must be completely open in order for the lazy susan to be installed in the following manner. If you have an existing cabinet or cupboard that has a door and a completed front, you will need to build the lazy susan within the cabinet rather than outside of it as the following instructions describe. Simply follow the same instruction for assembly, but build the unit inside the cabinet or cupboard instead of outside.
For a twenty-four-inch wide cabinet or cupboard, start by trimming and attaching the counter edging to the upper and lower shelf of the lazy susan using counter top adhesive. Be sure to leave a lip that will help contain items placed on the lazy susan. After the adhesive dries, glue the crosspieces for the lazy susan to the bottom of the upper circular shelf of the unit. Apply strong wood glue to the edges of the plywood crosspieces and place them on the circular plywood piece. Drill small pilot holes and tap in 6d finishing nails for extra hold. Allow the assembly to dry undisturbed for at least 24 hours before continuing with the project.
While the glue is drying, you can locate and mark the center of the circular base of the lazy susan where the bearing assembly will be attached. Then find the center of the cabinet or cupboard, and attach the bottom of the bearing assembly to the base of the cabinet or cupboard using an electric drill and wood screws. Once the adhesive attaching the edging has dried, you can attach the bearing assembly to the base of the lazy susan with sheet-metal screws.
Complete the lazy susan by applying a generous amount of strong wood glue to the bottom of the crosspieces. Carefully place the glued and nailed crosspieces topped by the upper circular shelf onto the base of the lazy susan. Carefully wipe off any excess glue with a clean damp rag. Allow the lazy susan to set undisturbed until the wood glue has dried completely. After the glue has dried, your lazy susan, lazy steve, lazy dave, or whatever name you’ve chosen for this handy cabinet and cupboard accessory will be ready to stock with whatever your heart desires.
