Circle/Arc jig for a router table??

[Michael Drew]

Looking for ideas to build a jig of sorts that I can use on my router table. Seems I always figure out a way to make something for a hand held router to clean up an edge on round things, or things with an arch, and every time I think about making something for my router table, but don't..... I build my router table, and it has a T-slot miter gauge. I also have the Incra fence system.

If anyone has built something that's not overly complicated, but nice enough to take care of and use over and over again, I'd love to see it.

[Kevin Jenness]

You can use the miter gauge slot to advantage. Make two blocks to fit the slot, one with a center pin and one without to act as a stop. Clamp the stop block in place, set the blank center on the pin and slide it up to the stop, then rotate the blank to make the arc or circle.

[Sam Puhalovich]

What Kevin describes ... in essence ... is the same 'principle' as used in many variations of a band-saw circle cutting jig. There's many to choose from.

[Michael Drew]

I have considered using a pin in something that would fit the miter slot, but did not consider using this "stop block" mentioned. That seems so simple, but very clever. I'm doubting my own intelligence for not thinking of it myself. OK, that's a simple way do accomplish this, is there any other - more substantial jig designs to consider?

[Randy Heinemann]

A circle jig for a handheld seems more practical, especially for larger radius circles.

[Prashun Patel]

I have made a jig for my router table using a pin. I found it dangerous. You are essentially trapping the piece between the pin and the bit, so the bit can grab the piece and spin it. Your hands are well clear of the bit, but it is still scary, and you risk tearing out portions of your circle. All of these things happened to me.

I find it better to use a plunge router and a trammel. If you have a bandsaw, a fixed jig for that works very nicely with a good blade. You can also tilt the table to get a beveled cut. You can also cut much thicker with the bandsaw than the router.

[Andy D Jones]

If your router table is an extension to your table saw, you have multiple miter slots to use, for different ranges of circle radius. But they may not provide overlapping ranges.

The miter gauge slots, with a stop block, give you the benefit of using non-plunge-cutting router bits to start the cut. This might allow you to do edge profiling and circle cutting in one step.

I don't know if there are any conventional (non-table) circle cutting jigs that provide the same variable radius capability (while cutting, with an adjustable fixed minimum radius), but an inventive woodworker could probably come up with one.

Andy - Arlington TX