Carter AccuRight Circle Band saw jig to follow maybe

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I have placed an order for one of these for an upcoming project. You can see it here:

http://www.carterproducts.com/product.a ... &cat_id=76

It is back ordered until I think the 22 of this month at Rockler. I had a 15% off deal and went with it.

I had contacted Carter to see if they knew if it would fit a shopsmith....

"[font=&quot] Not sure about the Shop Smith saw. As long as you have clearance on either side of the table and can get the clamp to grip the underside of the table you should be fine. We designed the circle cutter to be as universal as possible. I have attached the instruction manual for you so you can see how the circle cutter attaches to the saw table. If you have any questions please let me know."

It looks like it might work, but things look tight so it might make for an interesting fit. Anyway worst comes to worst I can always return it.

So have any other members here given one of these a try?

As a little history I have made one of these type rigs many years ago that fit my other bandsaw. I was never all that happy with it because it was a fix location on an arm with adjustment for distance only. It works but it likes to have a flat spot where the cut starts/ends. This is typical of that sort of jig so I've not used it much as I could do better with a router jig. The fact is I'm not even sure what I did with it, haven't seen it in years.

With an upcoming project I've started to look at making a new version. Lots of different designs and a few with the slide in to improve things. One got me starting to plan the adaptation I was looking for, then I came across this one from Carter. Since I'm already at least a month behind this summer the make vs buy went to the buy side. BTW this is costing me $73.70, to my door.

So if you have gone this route please reply. Other wise stay tuned and I'll let you know what I find out.

Ed
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Update!

After missing one delivery estimate (due to being out of stock) I was thinking I wouldn't be seeing mine until Sept 19. Not true as it was dropped off today.

We are having one of those heat index days but since the garage door has been shut for the last week or so it has semi-workable conditions. Meaning I went out and figured out how to install it and made an extra 1/4" center for it.

The good news is it wasn't a big deal making some modifications so it would fit. It was also possible to make the changes without damaging or modify any of the Carter parts. You may read that as, if I hate it I can still return it.... Not expecting that to happen.

If weather permits I will give it a test tomorrow.

Ed

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One thing I for got to mention, I'm doing this on my cast iron shopsmith band saw. I don't have a newer AL table to reference so I will be unable to give you any information on that.

Ed

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I'm way behind on things but I'd like to let those who are interested know how this adventure turned out.

I'm way happy with the results! This is so much better then the old hand built version I had. If I ever do find it again it is firewood.

The first thing I wanted to find out was if the jig would fit on my Shopsmith CI bandsaw. I've already told you that it does fit but now I'll add some details as to just how simple it was to get it to fit.

This first picture is what the jig looks like after being mounted to the bandsaw, and yes bandsaw is on the "wrong end", but works fine with the powerpro.

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The problem with the jig is that it comes sized to fit many bandsaws, but has an issue with the shopsmith due to bolt length. You can see that here:

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The other bolt is the same size but has nothing around so it fits.

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Using my calibrated vision I picked a bolt out of my bolt collection. I could have cut the longer bolt but hey it was easier to reach in a drawer and go with that.

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More to come.

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The bolt length of 1" was close but upon testing it was just a little too long. Since it was so small a change I grabbed a file and took a bit off. I rechecked to make sure I could see "air" between the bolt head/bolt and the shopsmith housing.

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I also checked to make sure the table stop was engaged before hitting the new bolt. Rechecked the air gap with everything tightened and about ready to go.

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So that is the big change needed to have it work on the CI shopsmith bandsaw.

Next we will look at some other functions, so keep reading it coming soon.

Ed

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IIWM, I would add spacers(or washers to the short one) to reduce the cant of the clamping bars(especially around the nut side).

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I dug in my scrap bin for pieces to cut. The thinnest was some 1/4" hard board and I went up to some 2" x stock. The first couple of cuts didn't work as well as I hoped for. I'll explain that issue in a moment. From that point on I was really happy with how things worked. Because of the limits of my scrap the largest circle was 10" round and the smallest 1-1/4". I had an 1/8" blade on for all cuts.

This is how the system works. The scale is adjust to the blade location and once set you read out the radius on the magnified scale.

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The stock is marked, positioned so the cut comes in straight until the stop is engaged, then rotated to make the circle. (Please reference the link in the first post for more information if needed.)

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In this next picture you can see the straight in cut which makes this jig and others like it work so well. You can also see that the circle is 4" in diameter just like the scale indicated it would be.

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Next post we will review the problem I had with my first circles and a solution.

Ed

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IIWM, I would add spacers(or washers to the short one) to reduce the cant of the clamping bars(especially around the nut side).

I though so too but upon testing I ended up with just one added.... go figure hey?

Ed

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The problem I first came upon was with the stock point they provide. The idea is that the point will be the pivot and that is true on some stock... but not so much on other stock.

You are to mark the spot then use a center punch to make an indent so the pivot can have a starting spot. Soft wood that works fine, hard wood not so much.... Well that is my story anyway, you might have other results. I want to play with some more, maybe using a different punch or ???

Now lets have a look at the point.

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I like the idea of the point, specialty if you have a face side and a hidden side, where the point will not show up in the finished project.

For occasions where you don't mind having a 1/4" hole in the center of your circle then this seems to fill the bill, and it is pretty much fool proof.

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It is really easy to make too. This next picture shows that, but the following post will give you a few other thoughts on the project.

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Ed

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For cutting the bolt off I used a cut-off wheel, any method that works works.

The factory point is 1/4" x 20 thread so you might well have some thing that would work some where in the shop.

This is me being me about details so feel free to stop reading now.


When bolts are made the transition from full thread depth to shank is a tapered distance and unless you are me that works fine. I like the threads for applications like this to be full depth for as long as possible....

If you have a tap and die set you will notice that on the die will be a start side. (These pictures are poor quality, sorry about that.) This is a taper that helps get the threads started and is normally how they are used.

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The other, non start marked has full depth threads.

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Since the bolt is already threaded you can use the die backwards, starting it on the threads in this manor will work to cut the treads at the transition. In most cases when you feel it getting tight up near the transition you can still cut another revolution or a bit more.... Be careful to back off many times and limit how much force you apply.... The result is fully formed threads to very close to the transition.

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I use a wrench so I limit the force I can create and have never broken a die doing this. Monkey OK, ape, too much.

Ed