Cheap Bonsai Turntable
Converting a broken office chair into a bonsai turntable is an easy, cheap project for the winter months. All you will need is an old office chair, a piece of old plywood, and some screws. The sample I am making here cost me nothing. If you want a slightly nicer turntable, you can go to a home store like Menards or Lowe’s and buy a precut circle top for your chair that you could stain or make look sharp. I prefer to use old plywood, then I don’t care if it the top gets damaged and sometimes I will even add screws or other tied downs. When the top gets beaten up, just throw it away and cut a new top.
This is our donor chair, as you can tell it has seen better days. Flip the chair upside down and remove the 4 or 6 bolts holding the chair to the base.
This is the part you want to keep. If a wheel is missing or broken, simply take all the wheels off.
This is the piece of scrap plywood that I used, cut it roughly square, mark the center, and attach a screw to the center. Attach a line to create a circle. Cut out with a jig saw.
You can sand or give the top a quick once over with a torch to give a blackened effect. I also use these stands for spray painting and a rolling shop table, so they get messy.
Attach with screws and a washer. You may want to add another piece of plywood between the circle piece of plywood and the metal base to have additional space for the screws.
Completed table. On this sample, I added the base of the seat so I could slide the table left or right and secure it with the black tension screw on the right.
Additional Videos to make a Turntable like this
