# making small circles?



## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Anyone got a jig for making smaller circles? I'm thinking of 1 1/2" up to 6".

ideally without making a hole in the centre, or at the most a small pin dip in one side so I can then sand that away to have a whole piece of wood?
using band saw, router, jig saw or any other kind of saw.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

A holesaw without the drill bit, mounted in your drill press might work for a specific size. You need to have a way of accurately guiding it until it's made a decent size entry groove. It'll want to wander.


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Thought of that, trouble is I dont have a vice that would hold the wood firm under the press. I usually hold stuff by hand, but that would rip away from me without the pilot hole.
My hobby drill press is the weakest link in my tool chain, but as its several hundred euros to upgrade it, thats not gonna happen this year.


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## vindaloo (May 30, 2009)

sunnybob said:


> Thought of that, trouble is I dont have a vice that would hold the wood firm under the press...........


Use clamps to hold the wood to the drill press table instead of a vice.


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## Santé (Jan 14, 2010)

Hi
This jig is perfect to route cicle from 0 to 300 mm and it is in english
http://www.lescopeaux.asso.fr/Techniques/Docs/Sante_Tripode_Anglais.pdf


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

@sunnybob...
surface clamp the piece to the DP's table...
make a drill guide from scrap for the hole saw by drilling a hole in it w/ the size you need...
fasten the good piece to the bottom of the guide mechanically...
clamp the guide to the table w/ C clamps or the like...


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## Quillman (Aug 16, 2010)

Will get you down to ~1.5".


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## Bodger96 (Mar 18, 2014)

Merci beaucoup Daniel. Thank you Daniel excellent.

Regards Bob


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

the drill press isnt an option really, its a tiny wolfcraft hobby thing with an ordinary ryobi mains hammer drill in it. Nothing is square. It was ok for my iron work for many years, but its just no good at all for this kind of thing. i'm hoping to replace it next year with a proper drill press.
That jig of Daniels looks to be the business, even if it going to take me a week to make it.

The one from quillman appears to need a centre hole, which i am desperate to avoid. plus shipping anything here from the states is ridiculously time consuming and wildly expensive.


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## 48394 (Oct 25, 2010)

Bob,
In order to avoid the center hole in the finished piece I think the easiest way is to make templates of the required hole / circle diameter plus the offset of the PC or similar bushing to the diameter of the cutter.Of course you'll have a center pin to make the circular template but the disc with the center hole gets discarded. If you intend to make circular discs simply clamp the template to the substrate and route away with the base of the disc double sided taped to a sacrificial base and lock everything to the workbench. If you have to create circular holes and precisely locate them on the substrate you'll have to create locating marks on the template prior to routing the circle and line them up with the extended reference line on the substrate. In either case you'll have to maintain firm pressure of the guide bushing against the ID of the template.
Harry Sinclair has dealt with this issue in one of his many tutorials. Search there for a more detailed description of the process. The templates should last for a very long time and produce lots of discs without center /pivot holes. Hope this helps,
Regis


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

this is yet another of my "bright ideas" that is snowballing out of control. I wanted a 2" circle without a hole, then I thought I might need other sized holes in the future. Now i have a weeks work to build a jig that might only be used once.

i had planned to make a pattern for the router table, but at the moment, I cant even get a true circle for the pattern, centre hole or not.
DOH! My inexperience is showing again.But I do like a challenge


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## bobditts (Jan 5, 2015)

Small Circle Template Set - Mobile Solutions - USA

and if that doesnt work for you, I could always make you a set of these... (shoot me a PM if you want more info)


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

If no one mentioned it yet the *Jasper 400*, the 400 does from 1" to 7.5" circles I've used mine tons with 100% success.

From the site, 
Model 400 mounts directly to the base of 19 different models of plunge routers including Bosch 1615, DeWalt 621 and 625, Freud FT2000E, Hitachi M8V, TR12 and M12V, Porter Cable 690 series and 7539, Skill 1823 and 1835, and all Sears, Ryobi and Makita models. Made in the U.S.A.

The jig mounts easy and fast. Keep the packaging, it has the offsets on the back for different bit diameters


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Ghidrah said:


> If no one mentioned it yet the *Jasper 400*, the 400 does from 1" to 7.5" circles I've used mine tons with 100% success.


doesn't that take a pivot pin???


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

It do. With the PC690 about 27 out of the 91 pin holes have the router's base plate frame backing the jig, so I made a shorter pin for those areas. I can cut circles out of 1/4" stock with a hole on one side only, and it so happens the lumb yd has 1/8" birch dowel, plug and paint. I also have utilized the Ø holes as embellishments with different wood species and other designs.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Ghidrah said:


> It do. With the PC690 about 27 out of the 91 pin holes have the router's base plate frame backing the jig, so I made a shorter pin for those areas. I can cut circles out of 1/4" stock with a hole on one side only, and it so happens the lumb yd has 1/8" birch dowel, plug and paint. I also have utilized the Ø holes as embellishments with different wood species and other designs.


so no through drilling then...

would an over sized push pin work???
push pin holes are easy to close back up w/ a drop or two of water and a touch of dry heat.. 

OfficeMax Jumbo Pushpins Assorted Pack Of 12 by Office Depot & OfficeMax


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Use that jig to cut the templates for a router bushing to cut the holeless circle.

Herb


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

make a drill guide from scrap say 2'' thick or better for the hole saw by drilling a hole in it w/ the size you need...
fasten the good piece to the bottom of the guide mechanically...
free hand drill your circles using the guide to keep the hole saw w/o it's pilot drill perpendicular/square to the good piece...


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

CNC router :grin:

Seriously though I'd just remove the centre guide bit from my hole saw and secure the wood to my drill press so it couldn't move


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

Stick,
Ooh you gave me an, at 1st great idea but it fell apart fast, I went to my shop and pulled my inlay radius cutter out for a look at the pivot point but it's threaded so wouldn't be a viable item. 

The J 400 Ø pin is 1/8" diam and .75" long; I suppose one could spend the time filing an 1/8' pin to a point for circle cutting, but at the risk of sounding like the as*hole I am I'd use the 400 to cut the female side of the circle I wanted then use it to cut the hole-less disk thingy.

I like bobditts little set up but I got so many jigs from past projects if you counted all the workable wood in my shop and the abutting room, jigs would prolly equal 15+%.


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## furboo (Oct 12, 2015)

RainMan1 said:


> CNC router :grin:


Exactly, don't over think this :grin:


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

@Ghidrah...

I have several of the Jasper bases (3) and all of them take a slip pivot pin... (for get what number size)...

got my hands on several of those push pins...
they are big...
a couple of them I heated w/ a soldering iron and pushed the pin deeper into the plastic to shorten up the shaft...
the regular ones are way too small in the shank...

other things that work are ice picks, sewing awls or a canvass needle in a pin vise or small drill chuck...


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

here a video basically the way I do it small piece double-sided tape


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

The short pin I made for the 400 was from a 6 or 8 penny galvi, cut the head off chucked it in the DP and hit it with sandpaper till it fit snug in the 400 holes then cut it to length and filed it smooth like. I use push pins for lots of things too but never saw a big diameter one and never thought of melting the plastic head to fabricate a new use. I used a 1"X16 brad for my homemade circ jig Ø pin. I also modified the J 400 to use some of the smaller profile bits, so I can't cut circles below 1 11/16".


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Semipro said:


> here a video basically the way I do it small piece double-sided tape
> http://youtu.be/lj8kcjx201A


Very good idea John . I guess the only draw back would be how small a circle you could cut . Can't see getting a 2"


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

so step sharpen a shear pin or a dowel pin....
host of materials to chose from...
all it takes is your DP and a file... 
no diameter reduction required...
don't forget to set a handle to it...


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

what's to stop you from using a T needle through a roll pin that would act as a bushing...


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Many good ideas, too many to reply to all of them.
Just had breakfast, then several hours trying to make some of them work.
thanks.


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

Clever Stick,
I'm trying to remember where I saw T needles before, so what crazy glue it into the pin or will the pin squeeze it when compressing into the jig Ø hole? All the pins I ever set were super stiff mofos. If the pins 1/8" the tapered end would let it slide smooth into the 400 Ø holes. You ever try to shear or hacksaw a roll pin? I've found shattered pins before and may have shattered old ones trying to get them in or out.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

so go w/ a roll pin that fits snugly from the git go...
bore the center of the RP to accept the ''T'' pin...
no glue.. let it slide/move...
longer RP's and the taper on the ''T'' pin won't matter...

use it as you see fit and then close the holes when you get ready to finish....

BTW.. ''T'' pins are a sewing thing...


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Ghidrah said:


> You ever try to shear or hacksaw a roll pin?


that's what cut off wheels are for...


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

Stick486 said:


> BTW.. ''T'' pins are a sewing thing...


They work well for pinning ribs, etc. to the plans when you're building model airplanes. A sheet of Homasote as a work table and the pins push in easily, small and sharp enough that they don't split the balsawood.

How about adding a sub-base to the router with double-stick and a pad of the same thickness at the center of the circle also with doublestick? Not sure how that would work for something as small as 2" though. I like the template and guide bushing method myself, still have a couple lying around that I made for putting faucet holes in solid surface.


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## Stargate (Oct 2, 2014)

*Router Circle Maker*



Quillman said:


> Will get you down to ~1.5".


Pat,
This one is on my 'to get list'. 
Question: - description say continuous adjustability from ~1.5" - > 35".
So, if i wanted to cut out a 1.593" circular blank (say out of 1/8" 5Ply Baltic Birch Plywood, will I be able to do so?
And, I have the Bosch 1617EVSPK Router Combo Package. Would my Plunge Router work ok with your Circle Maker? Or would you recommend a better choice in routers?

Larry B


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