How to Make a Rotating Tree Stand

Make decorating easy with a rotating tree stand.

Walking around a tree to trim it in a small living room is a drag. Putting the tree on a rotating stand is the way to go. Building the rotating part and mounting your existing tree stand to it is cheap, quick and painless. The result will make decorating your tree a snap for years to come. Parts that are not available locally can be had for a song on the internet, and the rest you can find at any home improvement, hardware or lumber supplier.

Things You'll Need

• Tree stand
• Two 2-foot squares of plywood
• Measuring tape
• Finishing nail
• Two-foot length of string and pencil
• Saber saw
• Sand paper
• Heavy-duty square-flange Lazy Susan bearing
• 1/2-inch pan-head Phillips screws
• Magnetized Phillips screwdriver

Instructions

1. Measure the exact center of both squares of plywood. Drive a finishing nail at the center.

2. Tie one end of a piece of string around the nail and the other around a pencil. Make the distance from the nail to the pencil point one foot.

3. Using the string as a guide, scribe a circle with a one-foot radius on each piece of plywood. Remove the finishing nail. Use the saber saw to trim the corners away from the circle.

4. Place the Lazy Susan bearing at the center of one wood circle. Outline the flange square with a pencil and mark the mounting holes on the wood. Repeat with the other wood circle.

5. In one wood circle, drill 1/4-inch holes through the mounting hole pattern. Lay the bearing flange rotated at a 45-degree angle to the original trace on the wood circle with the drilled holes and screw it down.

6. Place the circle with the bearing, bearing-down and centered on the other wood circle.

7. Align the holes in the upper circle with the lower flange mounting holes. Use the magnetized screwdriver to lower screws down through the holes and screw the flange to the lower wood circle.

8. Center and mount a standard tree stand to the upper wood circle.

References

• Refacing cabinet: Kitchen Cabinet Upgrade: Construct the Lazy Susan Middle Shelf
• VXB ball bearings: 300 lbs Capacity 4" Lazy Susan Bearing