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Not worth much of a mention but I made this circle jig a couple decades ago and I can't remember how many projects that it has been used on. Basically it is a sliding dovetail style jig that will produce circles from 1.75" diameter to 24" diameter. I normally use a spring clamp to lock the dovetail once I set the distance for the circle size I need to layout.
Good idea on the sliding dovetail!
Jim
Definitely worth a mention. I really like what I think is a "dart" for the point ;-)
That's clever - stable and won't twist.
Kudos
Yep, its a dart Glenn. At the time it seemed to be the best option, the point is very sharp and hardened steel.
I have a set of Eclipse Trammel heads. You can put a pencil in one side for drawing circles, or a steel divider point. I made an adapter that attaches to my router base for routing out large circles, internal or external. They show the points facing the wrong way in the photo.
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Bill, those are very nice trammel heads and if I was in need today that's what I would purchase. As I recall the wooden jig I made was done at a time when I was raising two daughters and money was scarce. I still use mine today, probably for sentimental reasons :)
That jig is awesome. Using the dart is awesome. The sentimentality is beyond awesome. You still use it today not just for sentimental reasons but also because it works perfectly. I have similar things- born from the fiscal necessity of youth, but they still work just fine.Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith Outten
Making your own jigs instead of buying them is one of the best ways to expand your skills when you are young.
But you do need to replace that blunt pencil with a .5 mm mechanical pencil. :D
Your right, the last time I put the circle jig away I broke the pencil. I do have a mechanical pencil in the top of my tool box that will fit the jig once the pencil is worn out :)
I have also cobbled together some crazy jigs and fixtures though the years. Most were for temporary jobs and many were given away to friends during shop visits. Sometimes you build a jig that you know you will never use again, no sense in letting it hang on the wall if a friend can use it. If you search our archives you can probably find a clear acrylic circle template I designed a few years ago that uses mechanical pencils in the holes of the template. I gave one away to a fellow Creeker to see if he liked the template, its pretty slick. I made them with my laser engraver, can't find a picture in our files. I also make large triangles from Corian scraps with my CNC Router on occasion, lots of shop visitors have carried them away though the years.
It's just for fun.
I got these heads used for next to nothing. The nice thing about the trammels is that you can make a circle from a few inches to 20+ feet, limited only by the length of the beam you clamp them to.
I use my router adapter often for cutting out speaker openings in baffle boards when building speaker cabinets. I circular groove down about 1/4", then rough cut the center out with a sabre saw, and then use a flush cut bit/bearing to clean up the rough sawn edge, using the side of the routed groove as the follower template.
It makes a perfect circle opening in just a few minutes.
I like the way you made the dovetail slide; it certainly is very satisfying every time you use your own self-fabricated tools.