I checked the Festool USA site for accessories for the 1010 and 1400 for circle cutting jigs and all I found was the Trammel Unit SF1000 for the 1010. Does anyone know whether Festool sells any other circle cutting accessories for either the 1010 or 1400? Or...is the better alternative to either make a router circle cutting jig in the shop or buy a third party jig made by another company? If buy one, then any recommendations?
Circle Cutting with OF1010 or OF1400
- Thread starter grbmds
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Cheese
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grbmds said:
There are threads here where users have made modifications to the guide rail accessory that uses the rods to create a trammel unit. With aftermarket rods you can achieve large circles. But some ingenuity would be required to make really small circles.
Peter
rmhinden
Member
grbmds said:
I have cut circles using my OF1010 two ways. The first time based on some videos I found, I replaced the handle in the guide rail adapter with a longer bolt and used that as the pivot point. With the guide rods it worked pretty well to make an 11" diamater circle cut. The videos has it all mounted on a thin board, but I did that without it and it worked fine.
To make a larger circle in thicker material, I bought the Festool 483922 Trammel Unit OF 1010 . That worked well to make a larger 15" diameter circle.
Hope this is helpful.
Bob
These days, I use the table saw to cut circles. But a router (any router) can cut circles (large or small) in multiple, incremental passes, when mounted to a table and used with a slide-on auxiliary top. See photo. No cord tangling. Do use push pads when cutting smaller circles.
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With the OF1400 for smallish holes one can use the guiderail adapter as a trammel point by swapping the knob of one of the guiderail adjustment blocks for a longer M6 bolt so that it protrudes below the guiderail block. For large holes MSF would probably be your best option or then make your own from a piece of plywood.
butzla
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What others have said, you just need to spring for a longer bolt for your guide rod knob on your OF1400. Spread the knob apart and remove move the bolt and take to your local hardware store for comparison. You can also buy some longer rods if you need them. Works like a charm.
Thanks - especially to Jim, for the suggestions and pictures. I was sure that this probably had been covered before, but did several searches and couldn't find it. This was useful. Thanks.
I assume you need to drill a center hole the size of the bolt in the wood being used for the cutout.
I assume you need to drill a center hole the size of the bolt in the wood being used for the cutout.
xedos said:
I'm with Xedos on this one.
Yes, you CAN use the OF1010 or 1400 with the rail guide and bars as trammel. And you can use the MFS.
The problem is those solutions all require a bit of setup and fiddling to get exactly the hole size you want.
I have a Jasper jig. FYI - don't buy the cheap Amazon version. Look for the 'Made In USA' that cost a few more bucks.
I have the Jasper mounted to the plunge base for my Makita 0701. I also use the Makita for edge profiling with the fixed base. Much easier just leaving the jig mounted. Don't have to recenter when I need to cut circles - just pop in the right sized bit.
You literally just drill a hole in the center of your circle, pop in the pin and set the jig in the hole that corresponds to the diameter you want. So fricken easy/simple.
If you don't want to buy another router (I think the Makita cost $200 for a full set with accessories) you can try the Jasper jig with the 1010. I don't know 100% if their base fits, but worth a shot. Keep in mind that you'd have to install/remove the jig if you use the plunge base on the 1010 for other tasks.
Unless something's changed recently; none of the jasper jigs have hole patterns to fit festool routers.
I suppose you could drill them yourself. On the 1010, there would be some issues getting too close to other mounting holes. Best to get an inexpensive plunge router to dedicate to it.
Jim's mod could be made easily with any router you have on hand that also has rods. Basically, make your own guide rail adapter w/o the adapter feature. a pin, and a couple of threaded inserts + thumbscrews would cost less than $10.
ben_r_
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I emailed them a couple years ago about their lacking of Festool router support and they said they were working on it. Never saw anything come of that though. Sad really as they do have a good product for cutting circles with a router.xedos said:
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grbmds said:
I would think so. Or, turn it around and use an elevator bolt with some double-stick tape on the bolt head to secure it to the workpiece and let the shaft of the bolt stand up then slip your pivot over the top. That way no hole has to be drilled in the workpiece that might mar the surface.
Elevator bolts have a broad, flat head and are available in imperial and metric sizes.
They are available at your local hardware store or the big box stores.
You can find out more about them here: https://www.mcmaster.com/elevator-bolts
(I have no connection to McMaster-Carr, just a happy customer for many years)
If you have a guide bushing it takes 5 min to drill a couple holes in a piece of plywood and one hole in the wood you’re cutting. You can save the jig and drill new holes as you need them.
The above method also works well for smaller circles where the guide rail method wouldn’t work. I used it to make some 3” circles recently.
The above method also works well for smaller circles where the guide rail method wouldn’t work. I used it to make some 3” circles recently.
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