Making a cut on wood is usually requires having the right knowledge about making the particular cut. While making a straight cut might seem simple, making a circle cut in wood is harder and trickier.
However, this doesn’t mean it’s not doable, even for a novice. Regardless of your experience, cutting a circle in wood is doable with the right tools and guide.
Interestingly, there are different methods for making a perfect circle in wood. This means you have an array of methods to choose from, depending on which is suitable for you. However, note that each method has its benefits and setbacks.
This review shows you three common methods to make a perfect circle in wood.
Freehand Cut with a Jigsaw
Using the freehand cut is excellent for making a circular hole when you don’t need the circle to be absolutely perfect.
To start this, sketch out the circle on your workpiece, showing the size of the circle you want to cut.
Drawing a Perfect Circle on Wood Hack
This method is of two categories: do you want to cut a circle out of the workpiece or make a hole in the piece.
If you need a circle out of the piece and don’t need the other piece of the board, you can cut off the parts surrounding the circle’s circumference. This gives a circular piece with irregular edges. Continue using your freehand saw to shape it until you have your desired size. Sand the circumference to have a smoother piece.
To cut a circular hole in a board, you need to first drill a smaller hole for the jigsaw blade.
Then insert your jig-saw blade into the hole and cut the entire circle by following the drawn circle. This also doesn’t give a perfect circle, but sanding it down helps gives a perfect circle.
Using A Circle Cutting Jig
One other common method for cutting a perfect circle in wood is using a circle cutting jig. This method produces a perfect circle in wood. A circle cutting jig turns on a preset Centerpoint to guide the blade on which path to follow on the board. However, if you don’t have it in your workshop, it might not worth the investment unless you want to make a lot o cuts.
Using this method to cut a perfect circle in wood involves locating the center point for the circle and fixing the plate of the circle cutting jig to it. Set it that the jig blade is on the circle drawn. Power on the jig and move it clockwise or anticlockwise. Watch as the jig cuts a perfect circle out of your wood.
How to Cut a Circle in Wood – Using a Table Saw
You might want to ask if it’s possible to make a circle in wood with a table saw. Though a table saw is not meant for cutting perfect curves, you can use it if it’s the only option you’re left with. The method goes with using a jig with the table saw. With the jig, you can spin the wood against the blade instead of moving the saw.
One major setback of using a table saw for cutting a perfect circle in wood is that it takes time. You start by making long passes to cut off the square corners, but as you continue, the passes shorten, and you begin to have a circle.
How to Cut a Circle in Wood Using Circular Saw
This isn’t most recommended method, but if your are desperate you can make this work. Cutting a circle with a circular saw can be done by tweaker the straight edge jig that comes with most circular saws. Note, the bigger the circle the easier it will be. You also need to be very patient. You will lower the blade a little each pass. But as you see in the video, the angle of the blade makes the cut wider. Check out the video below:
Conclusion
Making a perfect circle in wood is what you’ll come across in your day-to-day workshop chores. Hence, it’s important to learn how to go about the task. What seems great about this task is you have different methods to choose from, depending on which tools are within your reach.
This guide has provided you with the common methods and steps to craft out a circle from your wood.
