Boy, Darrin, I am jealous...

You put a lot of work into that jig, and it shows.

Congratulations.....

Now we want photos of the bowls.........VBG.

 

James,
Thanks James!

I do intend to get pictures of the bowls, all the way from making the templates to finishing the bowls.

 

Nice work, Darin! I will copy if You don't mind?

 

Thanks Howard! You copy and distribute all you want; if it will motivate someone else to build it, that would be great. The one thing I forgot to add was the distance from the end of the jig to the first pivot hole, and the distances between the rest of them. I will post that information this evening.

 

Nice job Darrin. You can heat the Formica with a heat gun so it will bend to shape. Wear gloves to prevent burns; you can cut a form slightly smaller than your opening from scrap wood to help get the shape. You might want to put a slight chamfer on the jig edges; Rockler may still have a PC chamfering bit on clearance for a couple dollars.

 

Thanks Mike! I may try the heat gun on another project. Since I have waxed the MDF, I doubt the contact cement would hold on this one. I used a file to take the sharp edges off of the laminate after I trimmed it with the flush trim bit. Yet another step I left out of the photo shoot.

 

Hi Darrin

Nice job on the jig and the PDF file
At one time back in 2007 I had one like that and then I found out about the Jasper jig and the old cir.jig got reworked for other jobs I don't have the rods and the holding block any more must be on some other jig maybe..

Once you have a Jasper jig you will put all other cir.jigs on the wall..with the Jasper you don't need fix it to the router in anyway it's a simple drop the guide in place and cut the cir.out and it will work on about 95% of routers without pushing any rods in to the base of the router..

Amazon.com: Jasper 200J Model 200 Circle Cutting Jig for Plunge Router: Home Improvement
Amazon.com: Jasper 400J Model 400 Router Circle Cutting Jig: Home Improvement
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I had some time to spend in the shop this past weekend. Our shop was closed on Friday and Monday, so I wound up with a four day weekend. I was burning the midnight oil out in the shop, taking advantage of the time off, and not having to get up at my usual 4:00 AM.

I have been wanting to make some bowls and trays with my router, but needed a way to cut a round hole to make a template. I have also been wanting to make a circle cutting jig, so I set forth to do just that.

This is by no means my design, as a matter of fact, I copied the one that Harry uses, and I know James built one like it. This just my version, and I thought I would document the build to share, and hopefully help others.

Thanks!

 

Bob, sometimes an EXACT size hole or disc is required and the Jasper is not INFINITELY variable.

 

Hi Harry

" not INFINITELY variable " = true but with a bigger bit or smaller bit it's not a big deal// the pivot pin holes are setup at 1/16" spacings..

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Darrin, for quite tight curves iron-on edging strip applied with a hot air gun has always worked for me. I've never tried Mike's method of heating Laminex.

 

Nice and clean looking Keith but if you were to make another one it would be nice to forget the nuts and tap threads into the block, the rods will never shift (would I lie to you)!

 

Harry I am not concern of the rods shifting at all. The holes I bored the rods are very tight prior to tightening the nuts. Now that the nuts have been tighten and compressing the plastic the rods are nearly impossible to remove even after the nuts have been removed...

 

I find mine quick and useful. I have been cutting holes and disks for my new Drill Press table.

 

Mike,
Yours and the one Keith made look great compared to the one I made.

I know this is a router forum, but how about some pictures of the drill press table? I have one of those planned for the future, and always like to see the ideas of others.

Thanks!

 

Wonderful presentation Darrin and a fine looking jig.

 

Thanks John! Hope you found it useful and inspiring, and I hope to see some of your projects in the future.

 

Very nice and detailed instructions for the jig. I think one of these will be in my future.

 

Dremel circle cutter tool

Here is a dremel circle cutter I built several years ago for the sound hole and Rosette
channel for the guitar I built worked great I sold it on E bay.
I wish I still had it I need to build another one some day. its a plunge router with a stop and micro adjustment so you can adjust the router depth and diameter. worked great.


-Larry

 

I'm with Bob.

While you did an exemplary job with the jig I find it cumbersome and with a large footprint compared to the Jasper jigs and several other acrylic made jigs.

No offense, just my take on the jig.

 

Ken,
Thanks for the input, and no worries, I am not offended in any way. That's what makes this forum what it is.

I for one have not tried the Jasper jig, so I can't comment on it. Building this jig was a way to also improve my woodworking skills. I may try the Jasper in the future though.

Thanks again!