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I don't seem to need to cut circles very often, but when I do, I often resort to drawing them out on the wood I am cutting then cutting them out by hand with my Jigsaw. This method is ok, but the jigsaw always leaves a rough edge that is uneven, so after cutting I usually spend as much (or more) time cleaning up the cut with my belt sander. For one-ups, this is ok, but I know there are better ways ... like using my router and the circle jig I made for that quite some time ago, but there is still another way, using the bandsaw, and that's what I am doing today.
As we all do, I checked out the Internet to see what was available and there are a number of designs and all that I could find were designs that made fixed sizes. What if I want a circle made that is between those sizes? I need a variable distance circle jig, and that's what I made.
I decided the best way to make a variable jig was to create a sliding center, which means 2 pieces of wood, fastened together in a manner that lets the slide move uninhibited.
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Many many years ago I purchased a Wobble Wheel Dado Blade. For those of you who do not know this blade, it is an interesting invention where a single blade is mounted in housing that when you turn the housing base, it offsets the wheel in stead of running true. The more you offset the blade the wider the dado it will cut. The blade works fine, although mine seems to be a bit sticky and harder to move in recent years. I have also heard many people who don't like wobble wheel dado blades, explaining that the blades don't give perfectly flat bottom dados because of their design, the bottoms are slightly convex or hollowed.
If you check out the previous video I did on this, you can see that ... yes, there is ... barely a dip in the dado cuts, but honestly, I think in most situations this would be more than acceptable for most people. I also have a stacked dado blade set that I use most often, mostly because it is more accurate for cutting size of dados I need.
Personally, my only real complaint with wobble wheel dado blades is that in order to get a snug fitting dado, you need to fiddle around with them setting, testing, re-setting and re-testing. All this takes time and I have always thought it would be nice to have some sort of a jig that I could use that I could set the blade width before putting it into the table saw, that would be accurate and give me the kinds of dados I want.
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Cutting small pieces on any power tool can be dangerous so we always try to think of ways to be safer while still maintaining the quality of cut we need. As we all know, table saws are notorious for kicking back wood and especially smaller pieces that are hard to hold on to make these risks higher and more crucial to address.
The jig outlined in this article addresses the kick back and other risks, but remember, working safely is always paramount. If you do NOT feel comfortable using any power tool for any type of cut, do NOT do it. There are hand tools and other ways of making cuts that may be slower for you, but they allow you the confidence of being in control of your work and your tools. Remember, you are always responsible for your own safety and well being and for making the right choices and decisions.
For this jig all that is requite is a T-nut and matching bolt and another nut that will be used as a locking mechanism for the bolt. You will also need a piece of hardwood that is at least 2 inches wide and at least 6 inches long. You will also need something called a "Mag Switch".
Mag Switches come in a variety of sizes and types and because of their Patent, they are the only thing on the market that I know of that can do these kinds of jobs. They are quite widely available and links are provided here to see the different sizes ...
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I have received countless emails and messages about adapting the Lynn Sabin Box Joint Jig to the router table, and that is what this article and video are about.
Some time ago, I made a video using the original "Lynn Sabin plans" that were originally posted, for free, on sharkguard.com, and very kindly provided by Lee Styron, who passed away a few years ago. ... thanks Lee, for doing this. Since those original plans were no longer available on the sharkguard site, I did have copies of them and have posted the original Lynn Sabin Plans, for free on woodworkweb, the link to these plans is further down this article.
The plans were originally designed for use on a table saw, using a stacked dado blade set-up. If you have never made this jig before, it is best to read these and the instructions provided with the plans, before you begin. The plans I used are basically identical to those original Lynn Sabin version with a couple of small alterations.
For everyone who is on the metric system, you will have to do all the conversions yourself. I do not know what router bits sizes, or threaded "ready-rod" types you have to work with. All the components I used were Imperial.
The way this jig works is based on the the "ready rod". I used a 16 threads per inch version. This means that if you have a nut on a rod like this, and turn the rod 16 times, it will advance that nut one full inch. Converting that to a 1/4" box joint, from the start position, you make one cut, turn the rod 8 times and that will advance the carriage 1/2" inch which means the second cut will leave a 1/4" pin, then make the cut at the 1/2" mark, and so on ... thus making the beginnings of the box joint cuts.