Best Circle Jig?

I have all 3 of the Jasper Jigs and they have worked like a charm on all of my speaker/sub projects...So i will vote for the Jasper (i haven't used anything else) Hope this helps some....Others will chime in as this has been asked before. There are also some very neat DIY circle jigs out there..............

Good Luck.

best circle jig is DIY.... but you do now have to make your own measurements then though....

I did DIY with a long custom Piece of thick plexi.... work fine, and cost me oh... nothin - had the plexi layin around...

I made my own ....


It turns out to be much the same as the n-compass linked to above by dimitris2u, except their model has a micro adjuster, so I vote +1 for them...

It can't get much easier than the Jasper jigs. I love the ones I have.

I also agree with Jasper Jigs. No matter what people say, there is alot of value of being able to put in a 1/4" bit and having an exact hole. Ive gone the DIY route, but unless you have some sort of scale, you can only drill so many holes.

The real question is, what are you going to build right now. Are you going to build subs or speakers? That should determine what you need.

Has anyone tried the Router Buddy? I'm curious about it's extra feature - rail thing

It would be really nice if the 200 jasper jig went to 20" or 21". I know they have another one thats spear looking that goes out further but the 200 is nearly the perfect size.

I use the Router Buddy and have had good results so far. The only downside for me is that I need to make test holes on scrap to make sure that I've got it dialed in correctly. Eventually, I'll pick up a caliper too for easier setup but will still likely want to make a test route before committing to cutting the actual baffle. It also seems to hold its setting but I've only cut up to 4 of the same size driver cutouts. Maybe this will be an issue for some future 9.1 channel build? LOL

I've never used the included guide, I favor using a clamped down straightedge instead. My guess is that it's not nearly as good as the larger cast metal guides available from the router manufacturers.

I use the Router Buddy and really like it a lot for cutting circles. You need a big enough caliper to set it. I ended up getting a 12" dial caliper to measure some 7" drivers but for most things I could get by with my 6" dial caliper. I've never used the edge guide, probably won't.

I like the Router Buddy because it's as accurate as you can measure. I use all 1/2" shank bits and I wasn't sure what the other guides were made for.

A DIY circle jig isn't hard to make out of whatever you have lying around. Hardboard would be my first choice but anything would do, even plexiglass.

Jim

I've had 3 Jasper jigs crack at the screw holes...

The M. Power N-Compass looks like it'll hold up well, probably what I will buy next...

Thought: what about obtaining a piece of say 1/2" thick Plexi / lexan and clamping your fragile jasper jigs to it, then using a drill press, drill the new material, IE: fashion your own jig out of thicker material?

Each hole could be labelled with an engraver.

1/4" Laser cut stainless would be my choice

I found the Jasper to be not as versatile as I had hoped. Pain getting the pin in and out and I needed a distance between the adjustments the first time I went to use it. It is great for repeatability.

I have 2 DIY on my old Sears router. One is just a piece of allthread , a block of wood and a pin. It is foe very large holes. I found the block twists so I need to make another with a bigger block. The other is a pin brazed to a slide fixed to a base with a slot. Works great except it takes forever to adjust. Every cut must be tested first.

They all have the problem of how well you attatch the center to some backing plate so when the cut finishes up, the router can't jiggle as the plug is free.

Oh yea, when I design my next one, it would have a thread adjustment, not slide. It is too easy to slip too far for a tiny adjustment with a simple slide like the RouterBudy.

I am working on a idea for a two part gig that can use the driver as the gauge to set up the main gig.

Circle jigs have to be one of the simplest jigs to make.

I use 1/4" MDF, a large nail and mount the 1/4" MDF directly to the base of the router.




I made a circle jig for my jigsaw too,:

The only problem with the simple one size jig that it is not micro adjustable and difficult to change radius. After you make 5 or 6, you will go looking for an adjustable system. If I was going to do a production run, then a dedicated fixture is the way to go.

It's actually more micro adjustable than a jasper. All you need todo is drill another hole where the center pin sits. I've used this for last years 18" and this years 15" horn. Next year I plan to use it for some Natalie P's.

What I meant is if you need to adjust by an RCH. Easier if the pin is on a screw feed. I have used an identical method many times. Tried the Jasper and am not impressed.