Accuright Circle Jig For Bandsaws

I've only used this jig for a day and have only cut what is shown in the pictures. The initial setup took a bit to figure out. The manual is really good and I watched a few videos online. I first tried using this jig when I had a 5/8" resaw blade on my saw and the blade was fighting the turns. I switched to a 1/4" blade and it is now a breeze cutting circles with this jig. Be careful backing out the circle and the cutoff piece. Twice now, I have accidentally pulled my blade off the wheels.

I have an inexpensive Skil band saw and could not use the left-hand clamp that was include because it came right against the body of the saw. . Substituted a mini C-clamp in place of that, cut a couple of test circles and then cut a 10-1/4 inch circle. It worked great. At the final cut the blade kicked out a little, which was the fault of the band saw but not the circle cutter. I've cut several circles since and each time they come out better and it's easier to use. Set-up can be a little confusing at first, but if you take your time and look at the parts it's all very logical. It really helped to watch the video on the Carter website. One of the best purchases I've ever made for the money, if not THE best.

This will be a review that will be edited in the near future. My three stars are based on product arriving on time (yes), appropriate materials in design (no) and instructions (toss them). First, I am a very experienced woodworker, both with handtools and large, stationary power tools. This circle jig has a problem with mounting to large bandsaws, with the clamping methods. On bandasws with thick tables, mounting this clamp goes to the extreme end of the clamping bolts, and in a situation such as this, the bolts should be thicker and longer. The brings me to the next flaw: the long bar should be a bit wider and stouter, as with a larger saw (mine is 17") there is an excess of flex. The shorter cross bar is simply great and genius in engineering out the main issue of shop built circle jigs. I will withhold comments on the pin until after repeated use. As one posted, adding a block of wood behind the blade will minimize tearout in the region, that is true, though Carter should either add another, larger plastic block to do this, or supply a picture to explain placement and thickness (wood block needs to bear on the underside of stock being cut and can be problematic to mouny). This brings me to the instructions: they do more to confuse rather than instruct! This is a very simple jig and anyone that has used a shop built jig, will know how to mount and use, without the instructions. Look at the pictures and video, but don't read the words, unless you have issues in mounting or use. All in all, the design is great, but there are flaws with this iteration. For the price, I'm left wondering at the long term durability, but I suspect that I will probably buy another piece of wider T-track to substitute for the long bar and figure out my own mounting methods. As I said, though, the shorter cross bar design is genius. I put the jig through its paces earlier today and found another item needing some revision: the short cross arm. I was cutting 19-1/2" circles from 6/4 stock, and the short cross arm was an inch or so off the table and I needed to come up with additional support for it. Solution was simple enough: rip a length of stock to place between the bar supporting the rip guide (guide was off the bandsaw) and the Carter short cross arm, to keep the cross arm from tilting. Otherwise the jig worked well, and I had no issues at all with the pivot pin, as reported by a few other users. The price is steep for a jig that has the issues I found, but, the issues can be resolved, although I feel the manufacturer (Carter), should revise the jig, offering retrofits to all purchasers of the existing jig.

The directions could be a little clearer. I had to keep rereading them to see what to do. I had to take it apart to put the curved part on. Would of been nice if the curved part was added in the original set up. Also I had a 1/2" resaw blade on the saw whenI first installed the jig. Wouldn't cut a 10" circle. I had to change to a 3/8" blade. Where was this in the directions ? Once set up it worked as directed. A 3/16" hole for the pivot pin keeps the wood from rocking.

Just made 5 fine circles on my Laguna 1412. The back of the table doesn't have enough clearance but I clamped a block to lock the bar in place. Works great. Easy to understand. Manual maybe tries to be too detailed. Very nice product.

My purchase arrived packed well in its original shipping box and there were no signs of damage and all the contents appeared to be correct.

This jig does what it is supposed to do. Read the directions and follow them and you won't have any issues. I have a Laguna 14 BX bandsaw and the clip that holds down the main track wouldn't fit between the table and the saw's arch. I called Carter's customer service and I had the part in a couple of days. Their customer service was very polite and professional. I will buy from Carter again on that point alone. This jig out performs all the homemade solutions I have tried in the past and it's a lot safer to use as well. The cost of this jig is cheaper than a trip to the Urgent Care Center for stitches. So just buy if you are on the fence about it.

It is a bit difficult to set up the first time, but it is very easy to use. The scale on the jig works in radius, not diameter. Be sure to match the width of your band saw blade to the size of the circle being cut.