Cutting Circles (1 Viewer)

Lee Friedmann · Apr 18, 2003

I'm about to build my first sub and would like input on cutting out the openings for for the driver.

Since I don't own a circle jig for a router can I just use a compass to draw a circle and cut it out by hand with a jig saw or a router? Will there be a problem if the circle isn't perfect?

Kyle Richardson · Apr 18, 2003

You can get quite accurate with a jig saw and will be just fine.

Andrew Pratt · Apr 18, 2003

I made my own circle jig from a thin peice of wood. I simply took the bottom plastic off my router and used it as a template to get the holes in the right place. Once the routers bolted on you simply need to hammer in a nail at the right location and voila a simple circle guide. Its not pretty but I've done quite a lot of work with that little guide.:b

Frank Carter · Apr 18, 2003

I cut my first holes with a compass and jigsaw and it came out fine. The router with circle jig just allows for a more precise and consistent cut.

DeepakJR · Apr 18, 2003

I cut the bottom and top plates from my sonosub(finally finished today!!)with a jigsaw and they came out alright. I also used a compass to make the circle then just sanded off whatever I didnt need. Good luck on your building ventures.

L8rz,
Deepak Jr.

Henry_W · Apr 19, 2003

I used Jig saw for the first couple of ventures (and it was OK), but was I ever pleased when I got a $25 edge and circle jig from Home Depot. It is the cheap universal mount, but I now wish it was one of the first things i had gotten...

Still have to use jigsaw and dremel to smooth out ports less than 2.75" diameter.

Andrew Pratt · Apr 19, 2003

The problem I had with using a jig saw was that on 1.5" thick MDF it wouldn't cut perpendicular to the wood since the blade bent out...makes for a very tight fit though

Karl FS · Apr 19, 2003

I made a circle jig out of 1/4" plexi. Basically I just cut the plexi to size and drilled holes to mount it to the base of my router. Then I drilled a hole for the bit to clear through, and now whenever I need to make a new size circle I just drill a new pivot hole in the jig. For the 15" hole on my tempest, I made a new jig out of mdf using the same method.

PeterV · Apr 22, 2003

Lee,

When I built my family's first Tempest sonosub I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow a friends router for cutting the MDF. I thought that was the only sub I would be building, so why buy a router. Well, today I just started on 2 more sealed Shiva sonosubs and was lucky enough to be able to borrow another friends router. Now this has me definitely thinking; I may want to look into purchasing a router. A router sure works nice for sonosubs, and darn, this DIY is like a disease. Did learn one thing though; its better to cut the MDF outside in the springtime than to do it in a closed garage in the winter!! Have fun and good luck!
PeterV

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