# Milescraft Circle Cutting Kit Question(s)



## EventHorizonVII (Mar 18, 2018)

I'm a total newbie to using a router. Last time was shop class in high school.

I'm building a poker table and borrowed my brother in laws black and decker 1hp plunge router, it is an RP200.

To cut the inside and outside diameters I bought the Milescraft Circle Cutting Kit version 1219.

Perhaps it is me but I cannot get the straight but to cut at the 3/4 inch depth. Any help would be greatly appreciated


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

welcome to the forums N/A..
your router bit is set too deep into the router..
but isn't long enough..
I hope you hogged your cuts 1st..


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Hogging out means marking the circle, then using a jig saw to cut just a little outside the line you drew. Not more than 1/4 inch. Then you make passes with the bit, with a 1hp router, you will have to make many passes, and I'd limit it to 1/8th inch of depth per pass. That means you'll be extending the bit 5 times to cut through 3/4 inch of material. 

You need to have the center of the jig securely affixed to the table's center. The easiest way to do this is to drill the center hole on the back side of the table so the hole isn't visible when the table is finished. Just driving a nail will allow for a little slop that will not only spoil the circumference, but interfere with having the bit track exactly through multile depths 

Alternatively, use a small piece of ply and double-sided-tape it to the underside of the table top. Pre drill a hole for the peg in the small piece. If you're fussy, you can take another same size piece and double stick tape it near the end of the circle cutting jig so the bit is going straight down into the top rather than at a slight angle. The closer you rough cut to your marked line, the more you can remove with the router, but again, 1hp is a pretty low power tool.

Hope all that makes sense.

BTW, the biggest hassle you may have is the power cord getting in the way. I tend to hang the cord from a swivel clip (amazon has them) above the workbench so it stays out of the way and doesn't tangle.


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

DesertRatTom said:


> BTW, the biggest hassle you may have is the power cord getting in the way. I tend to hang the cord from a swivel clip (amazon has them) above the workbench so it stays out of the way and doesn't tangle.


Pat Warner, in the instructions for his circle cutting guide (which is very similar to the Milescraft in it's general design), recommends cutting 180 - 200° CW, then reversing and cutting the rest of the circle CCW - this minimizes tangling of the cord.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


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## EventHorizonVII (Mar 18, 2018)

DesertRatTom said:


> Hogging out means marking the circle, then using a jig saw to cut just a little outside the line you drew. Not more than 1/4 inch. Then you make passes with the bit, with a 1hp router, you will have to make many passes, and I'd limit it to 1/8th inch of depth per pass. That means you'll be extending the bit 5 times to cut through 3/4 inch of material.
> 
> You need to have the center of the jig securely affixed to the table's center. The easiest way to do this is to drill the center hole on the back side of the table so the hole isn't visible when the table is finished. Just driving a nail will allow for a little slop that will not only spoil the circumference, but interfere with having the bit track exactly through multile depths
> 
> ...


Thank you all for the welcome, I should post in that thread and will.

I appreciate the info, I assumed I had to have the bit set fully in the collet. Will give it a go tommorow. 

For the kit it has the pivot and a screw etc. Since all pieces will be upholstered I'm not too worried about the pivot hole. 

The pivot hole is centered at 24" from an end and 24" centered from each side. Hadn't bothered to draw an arc, I used scrap 1/4" to test centeredness.

Will report back how it goes!


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

> I assumed I had to have the bit set fully in the collet.


an inch is all you need...


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## Multiwood (Feb 24, 2013)

Welcome to the forum N/a


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## marecat3 (Nov 30, 2010)

Welcome aboard


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Welcome to the forum.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Little bit more info. The conventional thing is to bottom the bit out, then back it out about 1/8th inch. But you can also drop a rubber grommet into the half inch collet and bottom the bit on that. Later, you may wish to do more complex things and use what are called match bit sets. Those are things like door making sets where you use several bits that have to be precisely set up. I use Sommerfeld bit sets, but you can also use Freud, which also makes matched bit sets. That means that once you set up the first bit, all you have to do is drop in the other bits onto a grommet and they will also be set just right. In other words, the shavts are precisely the same lengths so they align perfectly. If you bottom the bit in a collet, it can blow out and you don't want to be within a block of a flying, spinning router bit.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

DesertRatTom said:


> Little bit more info. * The conventional thing is to bottom the bit out, then back it out about 1/8th inch. But you can also drop a rubber grommet into the half inch collet and bottom the bit on that. * Later, you may wish to do more complex things and use what are called match bit sets. Those are things like door making sets where you use several bits that have to be precisely set up. I use Sommerfeld bit sets, but you can also use Freud, which also makes matched bit sets. That means that once you set up the first bit, all you have to do is drop in the other bits onto a grommet and they will also be set just right. In other words, the shavts are precisely the same lengths so they align perfectly. If you bottom the bit in a collet, it can blow out and you don't want to be within a block of a flying, spinning router bit.


let's call it follow the myth instead of the conventional thing...
start reading at post #11 and read on for the next several posts...
http://www.routerforums.com/table-mounted-routing/130209-collet-problem.html

also, auto set like you describe is rarely really truly accurate


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Stick: that's why we have sandpaper. Even using grommets, it doesn't take much to cause a mismatch. I should have said "what many newbies think...".

All my Sommerfeld matched sets came with a half inch grommet. If he's using them I will too. I read the comments you suggested, but if you think it through, without having an accurate bottom, you'd play hell trying to get matched sets to be the same height in the collet. While I respect the ideas and commentators in that string, I'm sticking with the grommet for matched sets. The O ring suggestion is great for single bits. Final thought, my eyesight isn't all that great anymore and a scribed line will be very hard for me to see. Do you align to the top, bottom, or middle of the scribed line? I just want optimal performance and 31/32nds or 33/32nds isn't much difference for woodworking. All those points are valid, of course but if Marc Sommerfeld suggests it, I will too.


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