WOOD TOY NEWS Make your own perfect turntable for spray painting toys with these useful tips. And it s fast, fun and easy to build! by Imants Udris Watch the video on our website at : http://www.toymakingplans.com/website/how-to/ rotating-turntable-for-painting-wood-toy-parts.html Spray painting toy parts just got a lot faster and easier with this simple solution. It s a snap to construct from readily available materials. And once it s completed and put to use you will wonder how you ever got along without it! This is how the Rotating Turntable for Spray Painting is made. It s a piece of wood mounted onto a swivel base with stationary feet. All of the pegs for the toy parts support are removable and repositionable and can quickly be adjusted to support the toy or toy part that you wish to spray paint or paint with a brush. Rather than walking around the toy or part to be painted you rotate the piece while standing in the same position. Rotating the piece being painted allows you to see where you have painted. This makes it a lot easier to obtain good coverage. The removable pegs combined with popular off-the-shelf painting stand-offs make for a flexible and efficient painting turntable. continued next page... 1
By choosing common plywood for construction, it s easy to build one or a dozen turntables. The 6 x 6 turntable steel base (photo below right) is also available at hardware stores and online. You ll be able to build this turntable and start painting toys and parts the same day. The base of the turntable is a 6 x 6 lazy susan style unit that is available online at amazon.com and at Big Box stores like Home Depot. The turntable rotates on ball bearings and is a smooth operating unit that will last for many years. The cost is around $5.00 USD. 5/8 x 3 x 11-1/4 PLYWOOD 5/8 x 11-1/4 x 11-1/4 PLYWOOD Materials required: Qty 3 Pieces of 5/8 plywood 3 x 11-1/4 Qty 1 Piece of 5/8 plywood 11-1/4 x 11-1/4 Qty 1 6 x 6 Swivel Base Qty 24 Pieces of 3/8 dia. dowel x 4 long Qty 8 #5 wood screws 1/2 long Woodworker s Glue Below: 6 x 6 turntable steel base available at Home Depot and online. TIP: Hand sanding the edges keeps your painting turntable splinter free when using. Turntable Steel Base The wood thickness is not cast in stone. I searched around my shop until I found this piece in my scrap bin. You can use any thickness you have on hand. The thickness is not critical but needs to be rigid enough to prevent wobbling. The width of 11-1/4 for the pieces and a thickness of 5/8 to 3/4 was selected. This allows you to not have to buy plywood and can substitute with a piece of 1 x 12 board or shelving material. This approach is very cost effective. It s good to keep in mind that what is commonly called a 1 x 12 board is often only 3/4 x 11-1/4. The parts shown have been cut to size on a table saw and the edges have been hand sanded using a block sander and 100 grit sandpaper. 2
STEP 1: BASE CONSTRUCTION Step 1a. Build a tree stand by crossing two 5/8 x 3 x 11-1/4 stock pieces. Glue, nail or screw together. Step 1b. Cut two pieces 5/8 x 3 x 3 from one piece of the 5/8 x 3 x 11-1/4 stock. Step 1c. Glue, nail or screw the 5/8 x 3 x 3 spacers to the bottom stock piece. Step 1d. Double-check that you are attaching the spacers to the correct board. They are attached to the bottom board of the tree stand. Shown below is a photo of the top surface of the rotating table support where the swivel base will be mounted. STEP 2: BASE CONSTRUCTION Step 2a. Flip the Step 1 Base Construction Assembly over with the 5/8 x 3 x 3 spacer pieces facing down and placed solidly on a flat surface. Step 2b. Cut two pieces 5/8 x 2-1/2 x 3 from the remaining 5/8 x 3 wide piece of stock used for the 5/8 x 3 x 3 Part components in Step 1. Step 2c. Glue, nail or screw the 5/8 x 2-1/2 x 3 spacer feet (C) to each end of. This completes the assembly for the bottom side of the Rotating table support. This side of the assembly will lie flat and face down. Wood Toy News STEP 3: MOUNTING THE SWIVEL BASE Step 3a. Flip the Step 2 Base Construction Assembly over with the 5/8 x 2-1/2 x 3 (C) spacer feet pieces facing down and placed solidly on a flat surface. Step 3b. Mark center lines on the two 5/8 x 3 x 3 pieces and on the 5/8 x 3 x 11-1/4 piece. Step 3c. Use four of the eight 1/2 long #5 wood screws to attach the swivel base to the two Part (C) s and each end of the one Part. TIP: Use soap or wax to lubricate the screws. Keep brass screw heads from twisting off by using the same size steel screw to thread the wood. Remove steel screw then insert the brass screw. 5/8 x 3 x 11 PLYWOOD 5/8 x 2-1/2 x 3 (C) PLYWOOD 6 x 6 SWIVEL BASE (C) (C) 5/8 x 3 x 3 PLYWOOD USE PENCIL TO MARK CENTER LINES The cross-piece A is positioned in the exact center of the 3 piece component B. Cross-piece A is at right angles with 3 piece component B. The two components (C) are glued, nailed or screwed to component to create the spacer feet upon which the six part assembly rests when in use. The steel swivel mechanism screw holes are aligned with the pencil center lines and 4 screws are used to attach the mechanism in place. continued next page... 3
The next step is to mark the layout lines for each of the supporting dowel pin locations. It looks complicated but with a grade school protractor marking the locations is actually quite easy. STEP 4: MARKING EACH OF THE 20 DOWEL PIN LOCATIONS Step 4a. Draw a diagonal line from each corner of the table surface to its opposite side creating a big X. Step 4b. For the next step you can use a circular protractor or a standard 180 degree protractor. Placing the protractor s center where the 2 lines intersect and on top of one of the diagonal lines mark the 45 degree location for each diagonal quadrant. Step 4c. Using a long straight edge, draw a line from one of the 45 degree marks to its opposite 45 degree mark from edge to edge on the board. Repeat this for all the 45 degree marks. Step 4d. Now using any of the lines start marking 30 degree marks for the full 360 degrees. Step 4e. Again draw a line from each 30 degree mark to its opposite side 30 degree mark. Step 4f. I then used my circular protractor and traced the outline of the protractor onto the wood at each 45 degree and 90 mark. I have just created my inner circle. Step 4g. If you do not have a big enough circular circle, look around the shop for something round like a plate, a paint can or a lid off of something. Anything with work. You will see a better example of how I created the circle in the inset photo on page 5. 4 continued next page...
For this table surface I decided to drill 3/8 holes for the 3/8 wood dowel rods I had in stock. You can select any size dowel starting at 1/4 and larger. Wood Toy News I selected 3/8 because I can sharpen them in my pencil sharpener. 5/16 dowels would probably work the best because that is approximately the same diameter of a standard pencil which you will be able to easily sharpen. You ll see why we ll be sharpening the dowels as you read on. Using a 3/8 Forstner bit I drilled a quantity of eight holes on the 90 degree and 45 degree marks on the inner circle, making sure I did not drill through the wood. This was easy because I used a drill press with a depth stop. In place of a Forstner bit use a standard drill with a drill stop or put a piece of tape around the drill bit to mark your depth and drill down to that. I then repeated the drilling process of the holes for the outer circle and drilled only at the 30 degree markers. Please note, you do not have to drill holes in the same places that I have done. You could just as easily draw an outer square and an inner square and then drill the holes where you wish. You may find that you have to drill a few new holes to support a specific piece you will be painting. Remember, this table surface is easily replaceable. I used a plastic paint can lid to mark the outer circle for the dowel pin holes. ALTERNATE TABLE: For the table surface you could easily use a piece of 1/2" wood again 11-1/4 x 11-1/4. Drill the holes through the wood; do not be concerned about depth. Then glue and screw a piece of 11-1/4 x 11-1/4 x 1/8 or 1/4" hardboard or MDF (medium density fiber board) to it. This new bottom piece will now prevent the dowel pegs from falling out and will still be supported by the 1/2" top piece of wood. continued next page... 5
On the next page I explain more about cutting and placing the dowels on the Turntable top. The photo below is my finished Turntable. 6 continued next page...
Two sets of dowel pegs were made. I sharpened the ends with the pencil sharpener and cut them to 2 in length for a total quantity of 8 for the center circle dowel pins. Then I cut 12 unsharpened dowel pins for the outer circle to 1-3/4 lengths. You can cut them to any length you wish, my lengths are not set in stone. The addition of the pins completes the rotating table assembly. The Hull assembly for the Easy Basics Top Gun Aircraft Carrier toy plan set from ToymakingPlans.com. The photo above shows how I used the Rotating Painting/Spray Painting Turntable Top to mount the Hull assembly of the Top Gun Aircraft Carrier and spray paint it for a perfect finish. I sprayed the outer surfaces and inner surfaces without getting up off my workshop chair. It s easy to rotate the turntable and quickly paint all the sides. These standard support cookies (photo right) are available at Big Box stores and Hardware stores. They re handy to have in your painting tool box. The top is flat and has a gripping surface that is ideal for painting light weight and slick surfaced projects. I always keep a few of these handy. For some projects I like to use the painting stand-offs that are available from Big Box stores. They are not necessarily a better solution but it s good for me to try out some of the new accessories that are available from time to time. For more information on building your painting turntable you can view Imant s video at http://www.toymakingplans.com/website/how-to/ rotating-turntable-for-painting-wood-toy-parts.html Imants can be contacted at udris@cogeco.ca 7