I am building a circular table that will have a couple of leaves. I have a glueup of each half of the 48″ table and am trying to figure out the best way to proceed from here. Should I cut each half as a half circle or should I glue the whole table together, cut the whole circle (with a bandsaw) and then saw it in half for the leaves? I am not sure of the best way to cut the table in half after it is cut in a circle. If I cut each half separately, I am not sure if the bandsaw is the best method.
Thanks for any feedback.
Eric
Replies
Is your bandsaw table king size? Mine isn't, so cutting to the line on a 4' dia. top would be too awkward and risky for me. A router is another possibility. You can make a jig that works like a compass, rotating around a pin. With the compass method, since the stock is fully supported, you could glue your two half-tops together with craft paper between, and then slit the too halves apart with a knife after the circle is cut. Or you could make a template of a half or full circle, and cut it on the router table (if your table is big enough). Just some quick ideas, I'd have to think about more. There's always hand tools.
I really, really like the idea of using the craft paper glueing method. I am going to use that approach! I guess that you all conviced me to use the router for the whole job also. I used the bandsaw for a 24 inch table about a year ago and it worked like a charm. This table is twice the diameter and over twice the thickness, so I should do it the easiest, most reliable way. Looks like routing is the way to go!
Thanks for the feedback!
Eric
I used Jim's suggestion: a router on a compass applied to two semicircles glued together with wax paper in between. Worked best to begin with shallow router cuts and increase the depth with each circular pass. Shallow is important because somewhere on each circle, the grain was in the wrong direction for the bit rotation direction. I used a very thin nail as the pin to establish the turning point of the compass- - didn't have to do much besides sand the straight edge of the semicircle to take out the imprint of the compass pin.
When the final diameter was established, I then used the router on the correct length of the leaves- -that is, I did them separately with careful measurements (but without the compass).
Method worked well.
woodsong13
Well I have to agree about the router method, I would use a compass to mark out my circle. Then cut it out with either the band saw or jig saw and then trim the edge with the router. But taking several light cuts will also do the same job.
Scott C. Frankland
Newfoundland Wood Worker
Another method that I have used with great success is to cut a large circle on the table saw. Yea, I said table saw! It works great.
I clamped a large piece of scrap across the blade and the table with the blade lowered. Define your centerpoint with a screw or dowel or such with a matching indent on the bottom of your table top. Set the top on the center pin, turn on the saw and then raise the blade just slightly, rotate the top one revolution and raise the blade again. Continue until you have the top cut out.
I could not believe the ease of this method. Furthermore, I was cutting plywood and there was no tearout. Nice clean cuts. I would combine this with the craft paper mentioned in an earlier post.
Good luck.
lomax
Years ago, I worked for a company that made all their lazy susan disks using the method you described. I was the main sawyer for a number of years and can attest to the speed and accuracy that you can get using this technique, setup was fast also. Most of the time we were cutting plywood or some other sheet stock and I don't recall ever having any problems (ie. kickback, tearout), that said, and being several decades older (wiser?...doubtful), I don't think that I would attempt it with a slab of solid wood 48" square, 1-2" thick due to possible binding inherent in all lumber. Also I would be leary of a glue joint failure with craft paper between the center section. Router seems the most effective method to me for this situation.
Steve in Oregon
I offered the table saw method as an option and still consider it viable. I was cutting plywood (with no chip out on either side) in 48"and 60" diameters. Tearout only occurs at the end of a cut on a TS. When cutting a circle there is no end. (Sort zen, don't you think?)
Kickback should not be a problem as there is no kerf to speak of as this method removes a wide "V" shaped cut. Just be sure to raise the blade only a small amount at a time. I would not worry aobut the craft paper glue joint either. The minimal effort required to turn the workpiece indicates there is little stress on the workpiece.
Personally, I have always had greater trouble with the router as it transitions from side grain to end grain. (Probably trying to cut too deep, see above.)
I too would condsider the router but given the great success I did have with the TS, I would not hesitate to use that method again.
lomax
Eric, I am also building a circular table and am just at the point of trying to cut the two halves. By any chance is the design you are using the one in FW by C. Beeksvoort?
I was going to use a router compass to make a semicircular pattern from a piece of 1/4" mdf, then use it to trim the two tops to the correct diameter after rough cutting them on the bandsaw. I am interested to see how your method works, keep me posted.
Bill
No, I am making a table for my son and his fiancee. They wanted a table from the Pottery Barn, but it was only 43" and they wanted something that would be larger in diameter and longer than one 17" leaf. I have a couple of challenges coming up.
Making a circular apron under the table. I have decided that a lamination should do that formed around a fixture I will be making.
Cutting the legs. I just completed one. It has been 20 years since I have done serious lathe work. I am concerned about how to make a clean (without splintering the edge of the square section) transition form the square part of the leg to the circular part. Ideas welcome
Eric, have you looked at the new Tauton book "Dining Tables" by Kim Carlton Graves? In this book it explains how to build an oval table with laminated aprons that excepts extensions. It appears he laminates the apron as a continuous oval (semicircle for your table) then cuts a slot in the top of the leg that the apron fits into. Bill
Hey Eric I just finished turning some balusters for an old house porch and , using fir (bad grain but pretty )I had that self same problem. In a recent fw there was a turning article and being a beginner ,at woodturning myself was glad to use a skew chisel kind of upside down just slicing into the corners and the problem never happened once you get below the very corners just avoid touching the square bit by accident. Oh and mind your fingers!!
It's not really work !!!!
Geoff n.c.
Thanks, I kind of wondered about using a skew chisel on the heel side to slice it. And yes, I seem to remember a article in FWW on that subject. I need to look it up just to review.
The simplest thing to do is to cut each half separately using a router. Make a plate to screw on your router base replacing the standard base. Use 1/8" masonite and have a circle the size of your router base with an arm about 30" long. (Should look like a badminton paddle). Mount the jig to your router, drill a hole in the arm 24" out, hot melt glue a small block at the center of what will be the bottom side of the semi-circle, tack in a nail on the seam and go at it. Use a 1/4" up cut straight bit and take no more than 1/4" deep cuts each time. You'll have a perfect semi-circle in 5-10 minutes. Put some scrap lumber underneath or put it on some foam board.
No need for bandsaws or templates.
I always use my plunge router for circle-cuts. I built a plexi-glass jig that fits my router base, place a dowel in the center, find the correct diameter of the piece, and let the router do the rest with a 1/4" up-spiral bit. Works every time for me. Good Luck,
Len (Len's Custom Woodworking)
Just saw a great idea for a router circle cutting fixture in the newest ShopNotes Magazine. Uses a threaded rod and a shop made centering jig. Quick and cheap.
Edited 7/3/2002 10:50:03 AM ET by Kim Carleton Graves-Carleton Woodworking
If you can create a center-jig to allow cutting the radius on your bandsaw, I recommend band sawing about 1/16th outside the finished diameter. Then use a compass jig with a router to finish down to the final diameter. Why? The Band saw cuts through the wood far more efficently. With a good blade, it may even leave an edge you could sand just a little and be happy with as the final edge. With only a 1/16th to take off, you'll put far less stress on your router.
Dave B.
When I did mine, I glued it all up, turned it bottom up, and ran a router with a long plexiglass arm from the dead center. Used a cutting bit first, then an edge bit to make the final cut. If you experience burning take a final tiny cut on the last pass. I was a novice then and had no problems, save some burning. Good Luck!
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