Adam Savage's Favorite Tools: Heavy Duty Bearing Swivel

Among the many sorted tools and hardware in Adam's workshop is a shelf labelled "Lazy Susans." And inside are Adam's go-to swivel bearings for builds, including what he used for the dome on his R2-D2 astromech replica. These heavy-duty Rockler bearings are versatile, robust, and have a smooth swivel action. They're bound to be used for a future build!

Shot by Adam Savage

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[IMPStudio]

"Swivel on my captains chair" might be my new favourite euphemism.

[JunsMiniGarage]

I really love how Adam is so enthusiastic and happy when he talks about his tools in his shop, he can convince me to buy something even though I don’t know what they are for.

[dusti]

This channel has been instrumental in keeping my mental health the last few months. In particular one day builds. I absolutely love watching you just go for something. Its something I personally struggle with. I tend to get stuck on the logistics of a project and before I know it I build such a large to do list that I become overwhelmed and never even start. Anyway, I love you Adam thank you so much for being Savage.

[RubiksCubeChris]

3:09 "Nobody can lose a tape measure faster than I can." - Adam Savage

[blitoris]

"If I was building a minigun..."
ATF puts you on their watch list.

[Rocking_J_Studio]

I use the larger Rockler swivel for a turntable for photography purposes and absolutely love it! I searched for quite awhile before I found the Rockler model. They're amazing if you need a good quality swivel.

[mistriver]

As soon as I saw the lazy susan drawer I ran to grab the lazy susan I fell in love with at an estate sale and came back to watch the rest of the video and sure enough it has the same bearing! It makes me so happy to realize that even though I'm not a maker myself I had the same instincts that told me it would be a high-quality item. Love watching these videos and learning something new every day.

[f.d.]

After 30 years of building design prototypes I literally discovered them *yesterday* on eBay when I was looking for an alternative to those awful stamped sheet metal Lazy Susans! Awesome & helpful video. As always a pleasure to watch!

[BROON]

Yay! We finally get a peak at Adam's R2 !!

Now please film the rest of him...

[Pendragonau]

Thankyou for giving me the extra confidence to use it for a job for my mum who needs a spinning chair it was the one i have been looking at myself.

[janierik]

I have used those rockler swivels too and they feel so well made and robust.. really like them

[Ace-Lee]

A few months back I made a lazy Susan out of a spare R2 rockler and a chopping block. Useful to build a model but not constantly pick it up to turn it. Works well!

[michaelanderson]

I have 5 or 6 of those 16" rockler bearings. Super affordable, free. They were in some shipper displays were I work. Was thinking to make tool racks with them. And thank you for educating me on there proper name. Your the best!

[blacksaber]

Seriously keep the tool tips coming, just hearing you explain tools and materials I never come across makes me totally rethink both past and future designs for projects. Always learning always growing always a maker

[gilboston]

Swivel bearings have been used for decades, I am 65 and when I was in my early twenties I used to take apart industrial overhead cranes and some of them could lift up to 50 tons. The hook has a swivel bearing which makes one person spin depending on the radius of 50 tons.

[wizardofboz]

I got a 20" bearing in this style (I don't remember if it was Rockler brand, but looks identical so probably is) to make a rideable lazy suzan. Mounted between two 24" pine project panel discs and painted them, sitting on my living room floor right now. So easy to spin yourself sick and hilariously fun to do so.

[em]

I'm literally in the process of building my own R2 and was trying to figure out what kind of mechanics/engineering I should do to get some basic functionality such as the rotating head. I've never heard of a lazy susan and I'm going into this project without much research and sort of improvising along the way. This helps a lot lol.Awesome.

[robcarew]

Adam, thankyou. I am going to experiment with these. I use pillow block bearings, but these Rockler are in a class of their own.

[TheRamblingShepherd]

This is why Adam's the best. I needed a large, heavy-duty chair swivel and couldn't find one anywhere. Then Adam's video comes up with exactly what I'm looking for.

[ianohagan]

Thank you! I'm looking to build a rotating photogrammetry scan platform and this is just what I needed, I was worried those sheet metal style bearings wouldn't be smooth while trying to rotate a human.