How to Build a Circle Cutting Jig For Your Router

In this video I show you how easy it is to build a circle cutting jig for your router! Wood circles are one of the trickiest shapes to get exactly right, but with this jig you'll be cutting perfect circles in no time! You can also use it to cut wood rings, make large holes, etc. All the parts are very inexpensive and readily available.
#CircleJig #PerfectCircles #RouterJig
0:00 Introduction
1:11 Parts Required
3:34 Hardware Assembly Example
4:41 Make A Template
5:13 Mark And Cut Router Mounts
8:00 Mark and Cut Center Slot And Body
10:57 Pivot Hardware Assembly
12:42 Final Assembly
15:45 Example Usage
17:01 Conclusion
As I mentioned in the video, I found all the parts at my local Lowes or Home Depot, but if you need to order them online, here are some affiliate links to parts which should work:
Barrel Nuts and Machine Screws: amzn.to/3btGyG9
8-32 Knurled Brass Nut: amzn.to/3jLTSsw
Plastic Knob With Threaded Insert: amzn.to/3gZ7E9l
Straight Router Bit: amzn.to/3bw8TeU
Inexpensive Router: amzn.to/3bBdZH6
Music tracks used in this video:
“Off the Rebound“- Silent Partner
“Stalling” - Topher Mohr and Alex Elena
“Clear Eyes” - Silent Partner
“Black Vulture” - Silent Partner
“Cruiser” - Silent Partner
“Across the Room” - Letter Box
“Led Foot” - Ethan Meixsell
“You’re There” - The Mini Vandals
You can help me with future projects!
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[@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.

[@AmplifyDIY]

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

[@SRelectengineer]

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

[@tommywillis7245]

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

[@melissabarron1574]

Best one by far!! Simple, thank you

[@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.

[@nurk_barry]

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

[@evanthompson8925]

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

[@doczues100]

Thanks, great tutorial, worked perfectly for me.

[@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.

[@joshbaxter5036]

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.

[@davidnleeh4]

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

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

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

[@marsharn53]

Thanks for sharing great information. Giving it a try today.🤭

[@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.

[@laguilayanisulan2830]

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

[@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!

[@kerfnut7898]

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

[@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.

[@papergatorzfedducca7998]

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

[@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

[@woodarchi1167]

Great video..!! I'll make it next time...~!

[@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.

[@peggo-channel]

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

[@_DCLXVI_]

Thank you so much for this video thank you thank you thank you thank you

[@jeffreyrice3141]

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

[@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!

[@snakemaster26]

Just made my first perfect circle! Worked perfectly

[@AmplifyDIY]

Fantastic!

[@jraglob5924]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

Nice!

[@spicyhot1695]

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

[@Texas_tejas]

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!

[@allenbarnes7202]

This will work great for model railroading return loops

[@arthilliker3721]

Absolutely AWESOME !! THANK YOU !!!

[@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!

[@jonasfrancadasilva2183]

Muito show meu amigo! Boa idea

[@derekpatey4774]

Brilliant, cheers

[@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.

[@jaimebujosaalicea2992]

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

[@MichaelSmith-nk4yq]

Brilliant 👍🏾👍🏾

[@altairmytube]

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

[@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!

[@chadmoyer1453]

Great video brother. God bless you.

[@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!

[@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!

[@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…🙏

[@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!

[@jhongmanila738]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

Fantastic!

[@stevenbaker4220]

Great stuff. Thank you

[@worlddrifter88]

This is an incredible video! Thank you

[@AmplifyDIY]

You're so welcome!

[@pauldejesus9644]

nice jig thx

[@MrPete1x]

Excellent. Thank you for showing this

[@seanditch4419]

vvery good video thank you

[@myboys4453]

Amazing thanks for the video

[@philstat100]

Thank You for the very fast reply and great information.

[@snurrfilm1]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

Hey, thanks!

[@dochughment6136]

Great video. Great tool. Thanks!

[@PaulreynoldsMCMXXLII]

Great little movie. Good backgorund tune as well.

[@garethsefton4937]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thanks, you too!

[@jehovannysoto2849]

Nice 👍👍 thanks

[@theotherwhitemeat4192]

Thanks, some great pointers.

[@rockm0001]

Awesome! Thanks!!

[@jameskeith7608]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

Go for it!

[@reivaj8915]

Perfect

[@ndbkjalvarez9619]

Great show Randy!

[@YehudaUngerNepal]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

You're welcome!

[@robertoortiz4197]

I loved is beatiful thankyou.

[@rigosandoval282]

Thanks Great Video .

[@thomasbyrne7770]

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

[@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!

[@wellygedel]

YOU ARE AMAZING!!

[@DJDOUBLE077]

Thank you very much...great video 👍

[@michaelfetty8683]

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

[@jup6401]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

Glad you liked it!

[@Wexellence]

Awesome. Great rig!

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thanks! 👍

[@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!

[@johnfitzgerald4274]

Thank you.

[@AmplifyDIY]

You're welcome!

[@paolodesantis3173]

Seriously well done

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you, Paolo!

[@davyps8273]

Thanks a lot Mate. Great video.

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you!

[@alfihry]

Super & nice idea ... thank you

[@albertshilton5336]

Great vide. Thanks

[@AmplifyDIY]

Glad you liked it!

[@neilenriquez8678]

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

[@tsetendorjee9040]

This is a great video and thank you very much !

[@AmplifyDIY]

Glad you liked it!

[@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!

[@KUGW]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

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

[@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.

[@realbigmic]

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

[@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!

[@cakes319]

great video

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thanks!

[@rejeanwolfe3756]

Quite nice and very well explained. Tks a lot

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you, Réjean!

[@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!

[@pierrevilliere7921]

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

[@AmplifyDIY]

Thank you too!

[@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.

[@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!

[@raphaellouis1077]

super

[@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!

[@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!

[@getitenterprise]

Such a dad.. lmaooo. Good stuff man! Thx

[@Rishy223]

I wish I could buy this already made for me!

[@dannyvillar9493]

Going to build this! Totally inspired :-) What is that small gold piece called in your knob assembly? Looking for it at Lowe’s. Thank You

[@AmplifyDIY]

Awesome! I think you'll love having a circle jig - they are really handy, and this one works well. The brass insert that I put into the knob is called a cap nut, and you can find it at lowes here: www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-2-Count-10-Brass-Standard-SAE-Cap-Nuts/3012499 I'm happy to answer any other questions you run into. Good luck!

[@dannyvillar9493]

Thanks!!