Circle Jig: Part 3

The next step for this jig is to drill holes in the circular section so I can secure the router in place. The placement of these holes depends on the location of the screws on the router's base plate. It was actually pretty easy to do.

First, I removed the plate from the base of my router's plunge base. Then I clamped it into place with come spring clamps. I just eyeballed the location here. Next I drilled three holes all the way through the material for the three screws which will hold the router in place.

Next, I drilled out around the holes using a foerstner bit - this provides room for the screw heads so the base can lie flush with whatever you are routing. Also, the MDF is considerably thicker than the plastic base plate so I had to drill down about 3/8" in order for the screws to have enough length to poke out of the bottom and grab onto the router. Go slow on this part and remove a little material at a time and check the screw position. When you are satisfied that there is enough of the screw sticking out of the MDF to grab onto the router you can stop drilling down. Make sure not to go too deep. Repeat this for all three holes.

That's all there is to securing the router in place. It's pretty easy if you have the right tools (isn't everything?). Anyway, here are some shots of the router secured in place as well as a sneak peek of the sliding mechanism for adjusting the diameter of the circles which I will explain next.

One more step and this thing is finally finished!