Carter circle cutting jig

[Breck Whitworth]

Has anyone actually used the Carter Circular cutting jig for say 6" thick bowls blanks say 15" to 18" in diameter? I noticed they have a special center replacement piece for bowl blanks. Just curious if it will actually work with heavy thick slabs? I know I can make my own, I have, but it finally died, I and am just curious if this jig would be steady enough to cut serious bowl blanks?

 

[robo hippy]

For me, a circle cutting jig is not practical. I take each log section and get the most blanks out of each section I can. I don't worry much about grain lining up perfectly. This method of use means that all of my bowls are pretty much different sizes, and the time spend adjusting for each different size would not be worth the effort. I use a compass/divider to scribe out the circles, and then drill a recess into them to mount for turning the base. I guess if I used a screw chuck and that hole was the same size as the hinge pin on the circle cutting jig, it might be a bit more efficient time wise, but not as efficient, for me, as the way I do it now. My drilled recess is never perfectly centered. Neither is a screw chuck hole, or a face plate.

robo hippy

 

[Monty Ivy]

I use the Carter jig and added the bowl option. The J-saped mdf tounge that the jig comes with was problematic. I took it off. The circle master faceplate centering device adds a nice synergy to the jig. Centers the faceplate to the same 1/4" hole used with the jig.

Overall the jig works very well. I use a large pair of divders to find the radius of the circle and transfer that measurement to the jig. I cut a cricket mark into the bandsaw table to speed alignment of the jig when re-installing.

 

[Karl Loeblein]

I use the Carter jig and added the bowl option. The J-saped mdf tounge that the jig comes with was problematic. I took it off. The circle master faceplate centering device adds a nice synergy to the jig. Centers the faceplate to the same 1/4" hole used with the jig.

Overall the jig works very well. I use a large pair of divders to find the radius of the circle and transfer that measurement to the jig. I cut a cricket mark into the bandsaw table to speed alignment of the jig when re-installing.

Monty, mind posting some pics showing your modification and mark location on the bandsaw table? Thanks…

 

[Monty Ivy]

Cricket mark detail, cut with 3 corner file.

 

[Monty Ivy]

Placement of jig using cricket marks for alignment. The gullet of the blade should be parallel with the center of the 1/4" center pin when the jig is mounted to the saw.

 

[Monty Ivy]

Added blank creation system. Provides a larger heavier duty aluminum block to the standard tool along with a faceplate centering tool.

 

[Monty Ivy]

In very basic terms, use a pair of dividers to find the center of your blank. Retain the setting (radius) on the divider. Drill a 1/4" hole 1/2 to 1" deep in the center of the circle that you laid out.

Use the divider to set the radius on the jig....center of blade to pin. Pull the block to the rear of the jig and place blank on centering pin.

Slide blank forward to enter the cut, when the block stops sliding forward begin circle cut.

 

[Tim Hunter]

Here’s my favorite:

View: https://youtu.be/X4WONdFiUwU


Tim

 

[Karl Loeblein]

In very basic terms, use a pair of dividers to find the center of your blank. Retain the setting (radius) on the divider. Drill a 1/4" hole 1/2 to 1" deep in the center of the circle that you laid out.

Use the divider to set the radius on the jig....center of blade to pin. Pull the block to the rear of the jig and place blank on centering pin.

Slide blank forward to enter the cut, when the block stops sliding forward begin circle cut.

Thanks for the info. I bought one of these jigs from someone at a turning symposium and have yet to figure out how to use it or if it’s worth the trouble. Your pics will give me something to compare against to see if any modifications are needed.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

I have had the jig about 2 years and used it quite a bit at first. I found, though, that it really isn't all that great, which was surprising for me, since I have always found Carter Products to produce quality bandsaw related accessories.

It's actually just as easy and productive to draw a circle on the blank and just cut it as close to that as you can. To me, it doesn't really matter if the blank is perfectly round or if it has some "corners". Within a very short time on the lathe it's round anyway.

With half logs, it's just as easy to cut some circles out of 1/8" or 1/4" material (like plywood or hardboard) with a hole in the center. Attach the circle to the wood with a screw and just carefully cut around it on the blank. Again, it won't be perfectly round, but close enough. If you don't want to make them, Trent Bosch Tools sells a set of 9 discs from 3" to 14" with center holes for $50. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than the $180 that the Carter Circle Cutter and added centering pin set would cost. I suppose you can use the Carter setup for other circles, but I almost never need to cut a circle for any other reason than blanks so I found it just wasn't all that useful.

 

[Breck Whitworth]

I guess I will just keep free handing my blanks into close enough blanks it's worked for years but sometimes when cutting 7" thick slabs into 15 - 18" blanks I am wishing I could just spin them into circles. Thanks guys for all your input.

 

[Neil S]

Made my own many decades ago. Nothing much to it. Have meant to improve on it but never got around to doing that. A bar with fixed pin that slides within the base would be quicker to change sizes. With this one I have to unscrew the pin and screw into new position to change sizes.

Initially I used it for cutting round blanks but I stopped doing that and now just cut eight straight sided on small blanks and knock off a few extra corners on larger blanks. I now use it more like a sled.

It can cut blanks up to 28" 'diameter'. The arrow indicates where the cleat underneath is located for fitting into the bandsaw table rebate...

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

My first impression looking at Carter's video on the jig is it's too flimsy. Second, most bowl blanks I've sawn were rough and not flat on the bottom surface that will make them hard to rotate on the point contact supports. Their video shows it cutting a 1/2" plywood circle, fine for that, but that's not a bowl blank sawn out of a log segment.

At around $140 it seems to be way overpriced for its usefulness.

I've made several circle jigs over the years that were not much more than a piece of plywood clamped to the bandsaw table with a moveable pivot point.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

It works, just not as well as I had hoped. With the centering accessory it helps when attaching to a faceplate. However as I said before I now don’t find any real need to cut am exact circle for my blanks. It’s just as easy to get them close to round. During initial roughing it’s quick an easy to remove irregular parts of the blanks so it isn’t really necessary to cut them exactly round. I don’t use it for anything else. At this point I’m considering putting it online for sale.

 

[Monty Ivy]

My first impression looking at Carter's video on the jig is it's too flimsy. Second, most bowl blanks I've sawn were rough and not flat on the bottom surface that will make them hard to rotate on the point contact supports. Their video shows it cutting a 1/2" plywood circle, fine for that, but that's not a bowl blank sawn out of a log segment.

At around $140 it seems to be way overpriced for its usefulness.

I've made several circle jigs over the years that were not much more than a piece of plywood clamped to the bandsaw table with a moveable pivot point.

You make a valid point. On really rough blanks where there a lumps and bumps from the chainsaw, I flatten the surface with an electric plane. You can have a flat surface in 5 or 10 minutes.

Next batch of blanks, it will use the circle pattern on top of the log method just to see if I like that better. I don't need a perfect circle either.

 

[Breck Whitworth]

I've used the circle with a short screw and a washer to hold my cardboard circles. That method works fine but with my eagle eye I tend to shave a little off my circles sometimes. I only consider a jig for when I get an entire log slabbed with a bandsaw mill then both sides are flat except when the sawyer's blade gets dull then they get a few waves.