®

Band Saw
Circle Jig

©2019 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. an Active Interest Media Company

Band Saw Circle Jig
You can cut circles on a band saw by simply 1
driving a nail into a piece of plywood and
using it as a pivot point. Or, you can build an DETAIL Pivot
adjustable jig. This jig can be held to the table point
with clamps or a unique turn button system.
BASE. To build the jig, start by cutting a base
of 3/4" plywood, 24" long, and 2" wider than
Sliding tongue
the depth of your band saw table, see Fig. 2.
TONGUE. To form the sliding tongue that #/4"
Penny
holds the pivot nail, bevel rip a section out of Counterbore,
!/8" deep
Threaded
the center of the base. insert
BACKBOARD. The outside two sections are Thumb screw
or studded
joined back together with a 3/4" plywood back- knob
board, see Fig. 2. To determine its length,
lay the two outside sections together upside
down with the sliding tongue in place, and
Side of Sliding
measure across all three pieces. Turn button band saw tongue
holds jig
Next, to determine its width, measure to band
saw table
across the front of your saw table and add
11/2". Then draw a line across the three pieces Front of
band saw #/4" Thumb screw holds
using this measurement, and cut the back- Plywood tongue in correct
backboard position
board to width so it fits on this line.
Now, screw the backboard to the bottom of
the jig with the sliding tongue in place. 2 #/4" Fasten backboard
to base with
screws or
STOP SYSTEM. The sliding tongue is held in the Bevel rip #/4" nails and glue
tongue from center
correct position (depending on the radius to of #/4" plywood base
BOTTOM
be cut) with a thumb screw or studded knob TOP SIDE SIDE UP
UP
mounted in a threaded insert, see Fig. 1. 90°
24"
To install the insert, drill a counterbored #/4"
30°
hole into the backboard, centered and near Width
#/4" Tongue across
the end of the tongue slot. Then install the Side of
band saw table must slide front of
smoothly band saw
insert and thumb screw or knob. (Put a penny plus 2" SLIDING TONGUE table plus 1!/2"
in the counterbore to diffuse the pressure.)
3 4
#/4"
PIVOT NAIL. Next, drill a hole near the end of
the tongue, snip a 3d nail in half, and push it 1”-Dia.
5" counterbore,
into the hole as a pivot point, see Fig. 1. #/8" deep

BLOCKS. You can clamp the jig to your band First, Blocks
saw’s table, or hold it in place with turn but- Second, glue
clamp jig to
#/8"-Dia.
band saw table through hole
tons. To attach turn buttons, cut two blocks and clamp
block to
so backboard centered on
is touching
11/2" wide and slightly less in thickness than bottom of base right edge
3" counterbore
tight against
the saw table. Then, glue the blocks to the left edge of table
of table
1!/2"
bottom of the base, tight against the left end
5 6
#/8" Carriage bolt.
of the table, see Fig. 3. Length may vary
TURN BUTTONS. To mount the jig to the table, 1"-Dia. counterbore,
#/8" deep
drill two counterbored holes for carriage CROSS
SECTION
bolts, see Fig. 4. Then make two turn but- Block Table
Block
tons to fit onto the bolts and use wing nuts
or knobs to tighten them down, see Fig. 5. Turn button
NOTE: Block is
ALIGNMENT. To align the jig for use, clamp it slightly thinner Swing
than band saw Turn button Wing nut turn button
down so the pivot nail aligns with the front of table thickness
or knob, to secure
and washer jig to table
the saw blade’s teeth.

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