How to Build a Circle Cutting Jig For Your Router

[@bktake2photography420]

I just finished this project. I built it in to a rolling cart that slides under my workbench. I can remove it and slide another device in its place. I cut two 16” rounds in minutes. My wife is thrilled, but I have a feeling my “me-time” just took a major hit. I think I will be cutting more craft projects than I bargained for! Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@altairmytube]

Simple but useful. Thanks for sharing and congrats from Brazil.

[@Locascio-n7q]

Thank you for this video! (I didn't notice the music. Was just listening to your tutorial)

[@laguilayanisulan2830]

wow! you just saved my day. im making speaker box and i wanted the hole to look good. thanks.

[@MrDoihaveto]

Great job. Best tutorial I have seen for a jig yet. The roundover and radius work, even though not filmed, made it a great looking jig making it worthy of being made of Baltic birch. I am making this for a community woodshop in various sizes(for ease of use) and will be making several pin combos. I am thinking maybe a little bigger pin and knob combos, certainly smaller, both pointed and squared off . I will make the squared off pins so that do not go all the way through the wood, maybe 1/4", 3/8, + 1/2", so one surface is left untouched/ presentable. This is going to be a teaching project to introduce several tools to newbies. I have several 1" X 2" 3D printed open boxs I made for 1/4 hex bits and will glue a magnet in the bottom so they do not run off. Your use of a magnet was great. Thanks again

[@AmplifyDIY]

Awesome ideas! I love hearing about folks who come up with obvious improvements to my designs. Thank you so much for sharing your plans, and for watching!

[@kenvandewalker8487]

Nice idea on blind pins for cutting from back side of materials.

[@philstat100]

Thank You for the very fast reply and great information.

[@michaelfetty8683]

super video veto understand much liked the way you explained everything fully, It made it so much simpler

[@1Klooch]

@7:25 Two tips borrowed from the metal working trade. Plywood is a laminate of differing sheets applied with grains at opposite angles for increased strength. When "wood butcherin" millimeter accuracy is not normally a prerequisite. Go ahead and drill, but know because of those odd angled sheets in the ply a bit can "walk" on you. To increase accuracy in ply; Tip #1, first pre-punch the mark with a good sized finishing nail, or smackable wood awl going at least through the first layer of the ply, plus. Tip #2, pull the nail/awl and use drill bits of smaller size working up to your finished hole. More work, but in the odd case where wood has to match machine shop tolerance this stacks the odds in your favor. Good video! I'll make one of these.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Fantastic tips, 1Klooch! Thank you very much!

[@PaulreynoldsMCMXXLII]

Great little movie. Good backgorund tune as well.

[@LanceMcGrew]

Using the jig hanging off edge of table was enlightening. Needing to cut some rings so this should be the ideal method especially since I don't have a fancy plunge router like so many other video show using. Thank you for your video contribution.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thanks Lance! I'm glad it was helpful!

[@jaimebujosaalicea2992]

I like your work and the way you explaing the operation.

[@neilenriquez8678]

Nice diy jig my friend..thanks for sharing. Im going to fab this jig

[@kbos5234]

Thank you so much for this…I wish it had been the first one I watched, I could have saved time and money! It’s def the last circle jig tutorial I’ll be watching…🙏

[@evanthompson8925]

Great video. Showing the router beneath the work to cut out the circle was very helpful.

[@AmplifyDIY]

This thing is so satisfying to use, I've cut up a lot of my scrap plywood just playing with it. :)

[@w.j.bendellr.c.flying.1037]

“Great job” now I need to do is go out to the shop and make one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@peggo-channel]

haha.. best intro ever! :D and súper easy cutting jig tool making :D thank you

[@ewong7492]

In most cases, rather than doing the math, it's easier to mount the router in the jig, then directly measure your radius off the bit itself. Great video, thanks.

[@spicyhot1695]

This is the coolest router circle cutting jig I have seen so far. I will have to make one. Thanks for sharing

[@ryanj.hanson6920]

Great simple tutorial. For circles I don't want a hole in, I use double sided tape on a T-bolt and that becomes my pivot pin.

[@AmplifyDIY]

What a great idea! I’ll have to try that. Thanks!

[@thomasbyrne7770]

Great presentation. Much more like what I needed. Thanks. Tom Byrne

[@tejas_1953]

Thanks for this. I built one out of laminate flooring, and it works beautifully!

[@AmplifyDIY]

Nice! I never would have thought to use a piece of laminate, but that would work great!

[@GNU_Linux_for_good]

08:40 *No* excuses. That perspective is just about right. That cute little jig now looks like a monstrous Star Trek spaceship. Captain *Kirk* salutes you.

[@AmplifyDIY]

She cannot take much more of this, cap’n!

[@jeffreyrice3141]

Love the intro... Awesome post production bro... P.S. Awesome jig too... thumbs up for me..

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thanks for watching!

[@jraglob5924]

Thank you, you just saved me some money. I have all the parts already in my parts drawer!

[@AmplifyDIY]

Nice!

[@ericeinsmann5559]

Awesome video! Nice design! I never thought to turn it upside down and use the jig as a sort of router table. I will make one of these to help me build a thien baffle dust collector from your other video! Thanks!

[@AmplifyDIY]

Best of luck with your builds!

[@randymarshall1267]

When you place the router base plate on the plywood, use a Vix bit to locate the holes . Much more precise. Great setup with the knob.

[@LanceMcGrew]

Now I know what those Bosch Clic-Change 1/4 in. Self-Centering Drill Bits are called. Another good idea.

[@jameswalsh4056]

Got it done yesterday thanks to your vid. Yes, the parts were difficult to find. Thankfully, Lowe's has a decent specialty hardware section. Now on to the project that inspired this build - building a vortex dust collector stand. Indeed, especially in woodwork, necessity(mine) is the mother of invention (yours). Thank you.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Fantastic! So glad you were able to finish your circle cutter. I built min specifically because I also needed to build a dust collector. I went with a Thien baffle design: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qn7IhmmVnLKBgdE Best of luck with yours!

[@jameswalsh4056]

@@AmplifyDIY I went with the "JohnBuildsIt" plan. Just got it done. Not perfect but decent for my needs. I regret not having more capacity such as your Thien model. Like the idea of moving collector around to each individual machine rather than building an entire plumbing system. Not only does it take up less space but eliminates the problem of suction loss over distance which I presume would be unavoidable. Can you comment on that particular issue? - my vac is a 5hp and I presume it cannot be as strong pulling dust from a machine on the other side of my woodshop as it is for more proximal work.

[@MrPete1x]

Excellent. Thank you for showing this

[@jhongmanila738]

Thank you. I have a 4ft outdoor table project I can used this tools. Thank you again.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Fantastic!

[@snakemaster26]

Just made my first perfect circle! Worked perfectly

[@AmplifyDIY]

Fantastic!

[@tsetendorjee9040]

This is a great video and thank you very much !

[@AmplifyDIY]

Glad you liked it!

[@austinroberson8]

Very nice tutorial. FYI if you have an ACE hardware in your town you will be able to find everything. I thing I spent around $8 with enough to make 2 templates.

[@AmplifyDIY]

I didn't even think to check at Ace. Thanks for the tip!

[@dochughment6136]

Great video. Great tool. Thanks!

[@alfihry]

Super & nice idea ... thank you

[@rejeanwolfe3756]

Quite nice and very well explained. Tks a lot

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you, Réjean!

[@pierrevilliere7921]

Very intelligent work and very practice !! thanks for you idee !!👍😊

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you too!

[@ndbkjalvarez9619]

Great show Randy!

[@lindoramoran84]

I have looked at so many videos for circle cutting jigs and yours is by far the best! My only problem is that my Home Depot doesn't have threaded posts or knurled knobs in stock, ever. Asked my husband to drop by the Lowe's near-ish his work (45 minutes away) and he picked up everything I needed. Looking forward to building one tomorrow. I am going to set up to put my small, hand held router on the other end for circles in 1/4 stock. Thanks for sharing!

[@AmplifyDIY]

Best of luck with your jig - I'd love to hear how it goes!

[@RobDucharme]

Ok, yup. I've been looking for a circle cutter jig. I've seen some janky ones using a jigsaw, and I've seen unnecessarily confusing ones. This is the one I'll be building (though I think I'll make a small change to how the router mounts!). And because my work table will have T-track (waiting for it to arrive)(SO patient.. lol), that's how it'll be fastened to the table. Cool!

[@RobDucharme]

Also, I checked my local Home Depot website for the parts.. I recognized the Chicago screws already so I KNOW they have those, and they had that exact brass knurled knob as well. I love it when projects are easy to source parts for...

[@AmplifyDIY]

Nice! Glad you found everything!

[@jup6401]

Thank you very much for sharing, this is too good 👌

[@AmplifyDIY]

Glad you liked it!

[@realbigmic]

Yes very good... crowd very very quiet at the end.. stunned i guess ;-)

[@elginscott99]

I am a 25 year veteran teacher. You have missed your calling if you are not at a K-12 or college teaching this stuff. So amazingly comprehensible. Impressive.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you, Elgin!

[@elginscott99]

@@AmplifyDIY My HD had none of the parts, so I ordered from Amazon - no biggie. The extention that you ground into a point. Given you have ab abundance of free time, could you post an amazon linke to it?

[@AmplifyDIY]

Abundance of free time! Ha! If you found the right thing on Amazon, shoot me the link and I'll post it in the video description. Thanks!

[@chadmoyer1453]

Great video brother. God bless you.

[@garethsefton4937]

Cool Video Man, I'm gunna make that today. Stay Safe People, Much Love from the UK

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thanks, you too!

[@joshb5036]

Nice video. I use 1/4" ply. It has some flexibility so I can tilt the router up off the workpiece a little bit when I start the motor. I don't have a plunge router.

[@snurrfilm1]

This is awesome! Making this one! Thanks for posting :)

[@AmplifyDIY]

Hey, thanks!

[@MichaelSmith-nk4yq]

I like this jig more than most that I have seen. It would have been great to see the the pointed piece you made in action. Did you make another video showing that by any chance?. Great video 👍🏾 I also like the fact you left in your mistakes, makes me feel that I am allowed to make mistakes without beating myself up 🤣🤣👍🏾👍🏾

[@AmplifyDIY]

Hey Michael - Thanks for the kind words! I don't have any specific footage of the pointed pivot in action, but it works great. It does leave a small divot in the work piece, but nothing major. Thanks for watching!

[@davyps8273]

Thanks a lot Mate. Great video.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you!

[@Wexellence]

Awesome. Great rig!

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thanks! 👍

[@tommywillis7245]

One of the most useful videos I've watched! Thank you!!

[@paolodesantis3173]

Seriously well done

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you, Paolo!

[@jameskeith7608]

Easy to follow and listen to I might have a go and make one of these Thank you

[@AmplifyDIY]

Go for it!

[@arthilliker3721]

Absolutely AWESOME !! THANK YOU !!!

[@rockm0001]

Awesome! Thanks!!

[@hjboots]

First time here and i was pleasingly surprised how you made it look so easy. This will definitely be the one i make Thank you great video.

[@BronkBuilt]

Nice vid. Small tip... Instead of marking the holes from your router place and drilling, use a self centering drill bit directly from the base plate instead of marking for the holes. Will be perfect every time. Of course, you need to have self centering drill bits :)

[@AmplifyDIY]

Great tip! I didn’t own any self-centering bits when I made this video, but i have a set now. Thanks for watching!

[@jenniferfletcher5425]

I need this in my life. I have been looking at where to buy wood rounds and they are so expensive. I need to make this and cut my own with my router.

[@wellygedel]

YOU ARE AMAZING!!

[@ukatama]

For the pivot point I use a small block of wood with a hole in it to hold the pivot, sticking double sided to tape to the underside of the block to keep it in place. This works for me and leaves no mark.

[@cakes319]

great video

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thanks!

[@albertshilton5336]

Great vide. Thanks

[@AmplifyDIY]

Glad you liked it!

[@ingShorty360]

NEW SUBSCRIBER ALERT 🎉🎉

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you!

[@myboys4453]

Amazing thanks for the video

[@Fresh-Tactics]

Well done! Thank you for this extremely in depth video! I like that you kept it simple and all the parts you used can be easily found at any local hardware store. Most videos require you to order something special from a certain website. This can literally be bought, built, and used in a matter of hours for cheap.

[@RobertKreese]

Thanks alot, I did watch many tutorials. This was the one that I kept cause it was perfect for me. I tried routing a speaker hole by freehand and painfully learnt that this is the way to do it. I also tried using the whole diameter of the hole I tried to make. Now I know that you should use the radius, wich seems alot easier. :)

[@AmplifyDIY]

I'm really glad to have been helpful! Good luck with all your circle-cutting projects in the future.

[@davidnleeh4]

Job WELL DONE!!!!!! You really explained this extremely well!!!!👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@swordspace2000]

Great. I saw the first mark slide before the other marks were made for to mount, lol.

[@worlddrifter88]

This is an incredible video! Thank you

[@AmplifyDIY]

You're so welcome!

[@kerfnut7898]

Great jig. Very well rounded. Thanks for the tips. 👍👍

[@stevenbaker4220]

Great stuff. Thank you

[@YehudaUngerNepal]

Great Video! Very helpful.....Thank you!

[@AmplifyDIY]

You're welcome!

[@jeffreyrice3141]

Love the "School Teacher" intro... Made me laugh so hard that my cheeks hurt... I had to watch it again.... Great video... (Australia)

[@rigosandoval282]

Thanks Great Video .

[@jamesallen6007]

Many thanks. Guess what I'll be making tomorrow?. 🇬🇧

[@KUGW]

Cool Video... I'm going to make one

[@AmplifyDIY]

I’d love to hear how it turns out. Good luck!

[@melissabarron1574]

Best one by far!! Simple, thank you

[@danielade770]

Best thing I've seen on KZbin, mate! I was struggling to make proper circles and was thinking of making a router jig but you have made the most elegant, easy to source design.

[@SRelectengineer]

Thank you for your tutorial. This one helps me with my invention

[@DJDOUBLE077]

Thank you very much...great video 👍

[@johnfitzgerald4274]

Thank you.

[@AmplifyDIY]

You're welcome!

[@kentharris7427]

Told my wife I was going to make a new table for the breakfast room. She said she wanted the table round this time. Since my table will be 48 inches in diameter and the CNC router will only handle 30 inches I will make a 24-inch jig instead. Will make the plastic handle with my 3D printer. Thank you for the idea! :-)

[@AmplifyDIY]

I love it when people can adapt my suggestions to fit their ideas. Best of luck with your table!

[@Stalyen45]

Great video! Detailed explanation/instructions as well! Thank you for posting! I only need to make a circle or two for some panel designs for my deck, so I could probably get by with making something easier. But the design of the jig seems to allow for so many uses, I may have to just go ahead and *try* to make this one for future uses. Decisions, decisions.. Thanks again!

[@Okla_Soft]

Beautiful, this is exactly what I needed. Thank you!

[@gregghernandez2714]

New subscriber here. Thanks for this very well thought out tutorial. You are correct about other tutorials, they always seem so complicated, and make the process seem so esoteric. Not this one, your tutorial is very well laid out, and very easy to follow. Thank you, can't wait to make one for my little Bosch router. Who knows I may have to get a bigger one like yours.

[@renevanderbruggen731]

Count me in - Thanks a lot making this vid

[@Ryan-td3td]

typically, I want youtubers to cut to the chase, but this intro had me chuckling. Cool jig, thanks. I made a pot/pan lid out of solid wood awhile with my band saw, but it was difficult to get a perfect circle. The major flaw, however, was that it warped from the moisture. I was thinking of making another out of good quality plywood. I was wondering if you would have any thoughts on that? Is there a way to keep solid woods from warping?

[@AmplifyDIY]

Hi Ryan - great question! My rule of thumb is if it's ever going to be exposed to moisture, it'll warp. So if you are planning to use this as a lid over a steaming pot of your favorite soup, it'll be really difficult to keep it from warping, as the wood will absorb some of the steam and expand, which causes the warping. A high quality plywood will warp less than a solid chunk of something, but neither is a great choice for something like a pot/pan lid. I'm certainly no expert woodworker, though - so I'd recommend banging around on google a bit to see if there is better info out there. Good luck!

[@pumpkinheadghoul]

I have that exact same router. Oh JOY, a circle jig I know will work well with my router. Everyone else seems to have plunge routers. Which is why I've never built a circle jig, even though I so desperately need one.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Nice! Glad it'll help you out. I sure love my circle jig - it works great with that router. Thanks for watching!

[@doczues100]

Thanks, great tutorial, worked perfectly for me.

[@robertoortiz4197]

I loved is beatiful thankyou.

[@Tinker1950]

For historical record it's now week six of the Global Coronavirus Lockdown (late April 2020). Deep boredom has gripped the entire world - but a router circle cutting jig is the solution. I'll be having a go at this later today - when I've got out of bed.

[@SCarns]

it's now July 28th and no end to COVID in sight... so depressing.

[@choiceblade]

Nice and simple. Gonna try this. I didnt see how you fix the jig to the stable work bench

[@AmplifyDIY]

Hi Michael! At the 16:17 mark of the video you can see I just screw a couple of wood screws with washers through the adjustment slot of the jig right into the top of my workbench to fix it in place - The video is sped up at that point and it goes really fast, but that's what I did. Hopefully you can see it if you click the timestamp above. Thanks for the feedback and for watching!

[@geelleguure8808]

Amazing technique. Thank you How about A Piece of Aluminum instead of plywood to last longer.

[@dandavis1419]

At the 8:41 point in the video you are talking about the distance of the bit from the guide edge. Is the distance from the edge of the bit or the center of the bit? It seem to me that it would be the center, but the way you state it, it sounds like the edge. Please clarify.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Apologies for the confusion, Dan: When you are cutting with a bit, you need to measure from the outermost edge of the bit, not the center of it. Say you are cutting with a 1/4" bit, and you are trying to cut a hole in something (you are discarding the circle you'll cut out). If you measure to the center of the bit, the bit will actually cut 1/8" wider than you measure (because the bit is 1/4" wide). This will make your hole too large. Similarly, if you are cutting a circle (discarding the part with the hole) and you measure to the center of the bit, you'll wind up with a circle that is just a little too small. So measure from edge of the cutting bit to the center of the pivot point. Hopefully this makes more sense. Let me know if you need further clarification. Thanks!

[@dandavis1419]

@@AmplifyDIY I am talking about the jig specifically. So when you cut the slot for the pivot point, shouldn't it be centered on the center of the bit, because the line you drew for the slot was from the center of the bit. I understand when you are cutting the circle itself, you have to adjust for half the width of the bit, so that your cutting the actual radius you want.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Yes, the slot in the jig should be centered on the bit.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Rather: it should line up with the center of the bit.

[@dandavis1419]

I completed the jig, but on my first attempt the circle was not a perfect circle (the radius ranged from 6” to 6 3/16”). What would cause that issue? Is my slot out of alignment, or is the pivot point shifting (it seemed to stay where I tightened it down).

[@reivaj8915]

Perfect

[@papergatorzfedducca7998]

New subscriber!!! You explained it so well!!!

[@sebuteo]

Great video. I made one of these before. But it's been destroyed, and wasn't as good as yours anyway. So I'll be a making a new one more like yours. Cheers from England.

[@ElCidPhysics90]

Magnet is genius. I might would add a conversion table for the cut radius and router but width. That way you don’t have to think about it. Also in that same table could be whether you are cutting inside or outside of the circle.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Great ideas, thanks!

[@MichaelSmith-nk4yq]

Brilliant 👍🏾👍🏾

[@tonycastro9997]

Great tutorial and simple explanation..Some of the router jig ideas I have seen are to over complicated as if they are to reinvent the wheel. I think on yours you could probably make one. 😄 Could I use MDF instead of plywood as I have plenty of 18mm (0.7 inches) in the garage.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Sure, MDF would work fine. Thanks!