|
The Base Plate Circle Jig replaced the base plate that was on my router. It came with the instructions for
fitting it to my router. Basically I used the existing base plate as the template for drilling the mounting holes in the new
base plate. The most critical part of the job was making certain that the old plate and the new plate was perfectly centered
before drilling the holes. The mounting instructions pointed out that this is important if you plan on using it as a conventional
base plate or using it with template guide bushings. If you’re only going to use it as a circle jig it isn’t as
critical because you make your adjustments from the edge of the router cutter and the trammel pin. I plan to use all the features
of the Base Plate Circle Jig so it was important to me that everything be concentric.
Using the Base Plate Circle Jig
The Base Plate Circle Jig is 7-inches in diameter, which makes it bigger then the 6-inch router base I have
on my router. I like new ones bigger size because the router feels more stable. The other thing I like is that even though
it is only 7-inches in diameter it is capable of cutting holes to over 19-inches in diameter even with a ¼" diameter cutter.
(The add says it can cut over 18-inches but I found I can cut over 19-inch diameter holes) So far this one tool has been able
to cut circles for any speaker that I needed.
It is very compact for a tool that can cut such large circles. Unlike the plastic circle cutter I had which
was awkward to use, the new Base Plate Circle Jig is very easy to handle because of its small size.
I also like that it is completely adjustable, especially since it is so easy to adjust. I found that I could
even use a tape measure for measuring my adjustments and still cut holes that are accurate enough for most speakers. Even
though 1/16" is accurate enough for most holes, it is nice to know that I’m not limited to 1/16" increment for those
times that I need a different size hole or need to hold a tighter tolerance.
|
| Cutting a circle closeup |
Unlike the other plastic jig that has to be removed from the router when not cutting circles, I can leave
the Base Plate Circle Jig it on the router. This saves me time because I don’t have to be switching between the base
plate and other jigs all the time. The Base Plate Circle Jig can be used as a conventional base plate by simply removing the
pivot slide. It can also accept template guide bushings so that I can use it with special templates. This particular feature
has turned out to be a huge bonus because I have repeat orders on some speaker cabinets that have several different size hole
diameters in them. What I did is make some templates for these repeat cabinets.
Whenever I have a new order for one of these speaker cabinets instead of using the Base Plate Circle Jig
as a circle jig I use the template guide-bushing feature to make the new holes. Now I can go from one hole to the other without
having to make adjustments for the different size holes. Another bonus of using the template guide bushing in conjunction
with the Base Plate Circle Jig is that since the Base Plate Circle Jig cuts perfect circles in the templates it doesn’t
matter how many of these cabinets I make. The template guide bushing is following a perfect circle every time. If I had made
the templates with a saber saw which as I said doesn’t cut perfect circles I would be repeating the imperfect circles
every time I used that template. The benefits the company and I get with the Base Plate Circle Jig is that the quality of
our holes has improved and the speaker’s fit better into their mounting holes. The time in making the cabinets this
way vs. the jig saw has been cut by at least 50%. We are very happy about having improved our quality and to be able to double
our productivity.
Another benefit I gained with the new Base Plate Circle Jig is that some speakers need to have a counter-bored
hole. This was impossible to do with the jig saw with one piece of wood. I had to cut two pieces of wood with different hole
sizes and glue them together to get the counter-bore. Whenever more than one piece is used it is very difficult to secure
them together and be perfectly concentric. Now it is a very easy process with the Base Plate Circle Jig.
I simply set the jig to cut the diameter needed for the counter-bore and set the router to the required depth for the counter-bore.
Since the same pivot hole is used for both the counter-bore and the through hole, I’m assured that the two holes are
perfectly concentric.
This is a sample of a speaker mounting board for a home entertainment center. This
is a 24 X 48 X 3/4-inch MDF board. Three of the holes required counter-bored holes.
As you can see the Base Plate Circle Jig is very compact. Only the trammel
slide sticks out to the center pivot hole. The pivot pin is a sturdy 3/16-inch diameter and can easily handle the larger holes.
When using a 3/4-inch thick board you will want to make 3 cuts each about 1/4-inch deep.
I am very happy with the Base Plate Circle Jig. It does everything I expected
it to do and more. I feel very comfortable in recommending this tool to anyone who has a router and has a desire to increase
the use of that router.
Sincerely,
James LaPlante
Practical Technologies, LLC
2 Stonehenge Rd. Unit 23 * Londonderry, NH 03053 * 603-818-8442
|
