Woodworking - Cutting Circles on the Router Table

[dying2l]

say you are a broke bastard and only own a corded 3/8 drill. what kind bit would I need?

[xraymond10]

great idea !

A+ dude

[wrightylaaad]

what is the biggest sized circle you can cut with this set up then ? looks great by the way

[EagleLakeWoodworking]

@wrightylaaad With the size of my router table, I can cut about a 34 inch circle. I would use a support roller if I was cutting such a large circle. You could possibly cut even larger circles by affixing a pivot point on a neighboring workbench or something. It's really only limiting by your control of the material.

[08hamster]

'Basicaly dust-free'? That MDF is nasty stuff. Were you masked-up? Chip extractors are no substitute for a respirator.

[EagleLakeWoodworking]

Using a spiral upcut bit in a table mounted router with an enclosed lower unit, the dust and chips have no where to go but down. It is only on the final pass (when the bit finally comes through) that dust has anywhere else to escape.

Compared my method to working with a handheld router and a trammel, and the dust collection is many, many times more effective.

Take a look at my pool table video #3. There's shot that shows the dust and chips exhausted out of the bottom of the table.

[thekillerlama]

I wish i had a table like that.

Good video.

[EagleLakeWoodworking]

Thank you.

[EagleLakeWoodworking]

Thanks for your feedback azgarogly. I raise the bit up into the workpiece using a foot-activated motorized router lift.

I totally agree with you on all the safety points. I made this video about 4 years ago. Since that time, I have switched over to using push paddles to move the workpiece around. And there's no excuse for my lack of eye protection. I have much better habits these days. Thanks again for watching and commenting here.

[azgarogly]

Great method. Kinda obvious, but the ruler jig rules.

Are You gradually ppessing the board futher and futher onto the bit, or lifting the router with your third hand? :)

And an note on safety: not wearing protective gear is up to You, but is no good on teaching video. And second, placing Your hands into bits working zone, especially when the bit is obscured is no good at all.

Thanks for the video.

Be safe :)