Making Wood Circles With a Power Saw.

I used a Radial arm saw, but a chop saw, miter saw, or table saw should work just as well. Depending on the size and thickness, buying the circles can get pretty expensive. Here is how to make them out of any piece of wood that you have.

Step 1: Material, BOM

you need a couple of wood screws, a nail with the point cut off, and a piece of scrap wood. Also about 3 minutes.

Drill a hole in the scrap wood about in the middle and push the nail up through the hole. I cut off the head of the nail so I don't poke myself as I work with this jig.

Now just place the jig such that the nail is at the distance to the blade such that at 90° the length is the radius of the circle you want. screw the jig to the tabletop with the wood screws.

Then find the sorta center of your stock that you want cut your circle out of. and drill a hole there that you will fit over the nail.

Step 2: Just Keep Cutting the Corners.

At this point you are just going to cut the corner off, then spin the stock, and keep repeating. When you get it down really close to round, you can actually hold the blade out and spin the stock to make it almost perfect.

Step 3: When You Get Good, Its 2 Minutes a Circle

that is really about it. I was able to laminate some of these together to make double and triple thick circles, then route the edges to make wheels.

Comments

[FlorinJ]

Great jig, I built one too. Allows cutting disks of highly repeatable diameter, as long as you don't change the settings until you have finished cutting all disks.

But be careful when using it. Upon each cut, until you get close to a circle shape, there's a significant risk of the material catching the blade. There's no parallel stop or sled fence to keep the material aligned, so it can easily rotate. Ideally, use a quick release clamp down clamp to fixate the material in place before each cut. Once you get to the point of shaving just a few millimeters away on each cut, the risk of catch is small, and you can hold down the workpiece with your hand only.

Alternatively, you can rough cut the circle shape with a jigsaw, then there's not much material left to shave off with the miter or table saw anymore from the get go. Makes the whole process faster too.

[jleslie48]

I actually wear a full face mask when I use my radial arm saw.

[Kink Jarfold]

I'm a big fan of any kind of jig. Someday I will make this one, too. So simple. So elegantly explained. This also gave me ideas for how to make various geometric shapes based on your hexagon. KJ

[jleslie48]

the more and more I do woodworking I find making a jig is almost always worth the time.

[Kink Jarfold]

I'm going to have to dedicate one wall to all the jigs I've made.

[jleslie48]

8)

[StevenH180]

I've done similar on a table saw. Just use a rectangular piece of wood with a nail in it for the jig, and set the saw fence so the nail in the jig is the same distance from the blade as the radius you want. Then slide the jig back and forth against the fence while rotating the piece you are cutting between cuts. Basically the same method but with a different tool. Cheers!

[jleslie48]

absolutely.

[cmhedlund]

That’s geinus I would have tried to cut them from a jig saw and get ticked because it came out uneven. I also really like the hexagon shape to, it would really make a nice platform for wind chimes. Very well done!

[jleslie48]

try mounting the jig saw onto a board and turn the thing upside down so the saw blade goes up and down, aka, make a jury rigged scroll saw with the board becoming the table top

[JohnC430]

Very nice and innovative. Thanks for sharing

[jleslie48]

you are most welcome.

[pantalone]

This is brilliant! What is the thickness of the workpiece? What thicknesses have you successfully tried?

[jleslie48]

I've used 1x10 pine board stock. After the circles are cut I laminate them together to get thickness.